When news came out that legendary singer and songwriter David Bowie had succumbed to cancer in January of 2016, it was a heartbreaking blow to the music world and fans alike. Now, two years later, the long-awaited all-star tribute is about to be made to one of music’s greatest.
The special tribute put on by Howard Stern will occur this Friday night on his Howard 101 SiriusXM satellite radio station. He has recruited 25 musical acts to perform their favorite Bowie tracks including artists like Garbage, Billy Corgan, Corey Taylor and Gogol Bordello.
On his Tuesday morning show, Stern previewed selections from the upcoming Bowie tribute including 90s singer and songwriter Lisa Loeb’s moving acoustic version of “Heroes.” Stern enthusiastically commented that he had “been listening to this special for about two weeks…it’s killer.”
Among the other highlights of the show include the lead singer of the band Slipknot, Corey Taylor who decided to sing “Fashion” off of Bowie’s 1980 album Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). “I’ve been a Bowie fan since I could walk,” Corey said. “He is so iconic, he’s basically his genre now. I chose ‘Fashion’ because when I first heard it, I was blown away by how much groove was in it and the attitude. This is my spin. It’ll never touch the original, but I hope you all like it.”
Another artist paying tribute is “Gypsy-Punk” mavericks, Gogol Bordello, who will be doing their version of the beloved track “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide.” Eugene Hutz, the frontman for Gogol Bordello, expressed his appreciation on The Howard Stern Show for the late rock star saying, “A brilliant music writer with mania for progress and endless shape-shifting, yet with a very strong soul presence behind all the masquerade. And with very pronounced loving kindness about him. I believe it was exactly the kind of presence that [noted spiritualist] Edgar Cayce described as supra-consciousness.”
The Friday special will be hosted and produced by longtime Bowie producer Tony Visconti. In a statement, Visconti was inspired to put together a celebration of his friend’s musical life and judging by the list of performers; it will be a truly memorable and respected celebration. Bowie was 69 when he passed away on January 10th, 2016.
Below is the full list of performers along with the Bowie song that they will be covering.
Peter Frampton “Rebel Rebel” (Live)
Michael Penn and Aimee Mann “After All”
Greta Van Fleet “The Jean Genie”
Kristeen Young “Moonage Daydream”
Britt Daniel (Spoon) “Never Let Me Down”
Durand Jones & the Indications “Young Americans”
Daryl Hall “Fame”
Corey Taylor “Fashion”
The Struts “Suffragette City”
Lisa Loeb “All the Young Dudes”
Sun Kil Moon “John, I’m Only Dancing”
Umphrey’s McGee (Feat. Huey Lewis and Jeff Coffin) “Let’s Dance”
Jade Bird “Quicksand”
Biffy Clyro “Modern Love”
Todd Rundgren “Life on Mars?”
Bones “I’m Afraid of Americans”
Dawes “Oh! You Pretty Things”
Nikki Lane “Golden Years”
Bleachers “Ziggy Stardust”
Car Seat Headrest “Ashes to Ashes”
Low Cut Connie “Diamond Dogs”
Gogol Bordello “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide”
Shawn Colvin “Heroes”
Garbage “Starman”
William Patrick Corgan “Space Oddity”
Photo credit by Owen Ela
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