3 Times David Bowie Saved Other Musicians’ Careers

David Bowie was a master of reinvention through numerous phases of his time in the spotlight. There were more than a few times where he had to save his own career. Kindly, Bowie offered his own star power to a few of his contemporaries, and even saved their careers at one point in time. Let’s take a look at three musicians who David Bowie helped keep their careers afloat.

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Tina Turner

It’s hard to imagine a powerhouse like Tina Turner ever needing help with her career. However, the early 1980s was a rough period for Turner, as she was struggling to produce new no. 1 chart-topping songs. Capitol Records even dropped her, and she was struggling to find her footing after finally ending her abusive relationship with ex-husband Ike Turner.

Thankfully, Bowie, who was also on that particular label, told a few executives in 1983 that he couldn’t meet them for lunch because he was going out to see an incredible musician perform. The executives came along to see who he was talking about, and that show ended up being a performance by Turner. The incredible set changed their view of the singer, and she ended up getting another deal with them.

Lou Reed

David Bowie, like many young British weirdos in the 60s, fell in love with The Velvet Underground. The group’s first album was a big inspiration for him. In 1971, Bowie repaid the favor by helping Reed reignite his solo career. Bowie helped him in producing his album, Transformer, that following year. It was a worthwhile effort, and Reed enjoyed a pretty big solo career that lasted for decades after that release.

Iggy Pop

This wouldn’t be a list of the many times Bowie saved other musicians’ careers without mentioning The Stooges’ Iggy Pop. Bowie and Pop famously left the drug-induced madness of rock music behind by travelling together to Berlin, Germany together in the mid-1970s. 

There, they essentially reinvented themselves and got clean. Bowie’s famed Berlin trilogy of records came out during that time. Likewise, Bowie helped Pop put together his first solo record, The Idiot. Pop would later say that Bowie “salvaged” him from “professional and maybe personal annihilation.”

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