Today is the ninth anniversary of the David Bowie’s passing. I came rather late to appreciating the talent of Bowie, but over the years I’ve not only come to admire him as a singer and songwriter, but also as a great collaborator.
Bowie had a long connection with the producer Toni Visconti, but over the years he genuinely collaborated with many other leading musicians. Brian Eno, Mick Ronson, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Robert Fripp, Rick Wakeman, John Lennon, Luther Vandross, Freddie Mercury and Queen, Goldie and Nile Rodgers, among many others, were fortunate enough to collaborate with Bowie over the course of his career.
If you read the interviews of these people about how they found working with Bowie, the thing that hits you is how much trust he had in them. He didn’t try and over-control what they did. On the contrary, he gave them free rein to display their artistic talent and creativity. The result? Rick Wakeman’s piano on Is There Life On Mars?, Robert Fripp’s guitar on Heroes, and Nile Rodgers’s guitar and input into Let’s Dance and China Girl, became part of the soundtrack to many of our lives.
Collaboration is not always easy, but it starts with trust. Bowie chose to collaborate with people he genuinely admired and respected and then completely trusted them to deliver something great.
How could you achieve more in 2025 by collaborating with other talented people and teams?
Off The Record: Lazarus by David Bowie
Look at me, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now
By the way, I’ve now created a Spotify list of all the songs that have featured in Business Rocks to date, including this week’s track. It’s handily titled, Stuart’s Business Rocks Playlist. Please feel free to add it to your playlists library so that you can get some musical inspiration whenever you need it. The link is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7xGVaJSHxzqgQX9IAfmkTA?si=bdb8673e11e74381
Thanks for all your support and encouragement!