Remember When: Comedian Ricky Gervais Wrote a Song for David Bowie About a ‘Man Who Sold His Soul’

Two years after leaving his hit BBC sitcom The Office, actor and comedian Ricky Gervais premiered his new show Extras in 2005. In the series, which ran through 2007 on the BBC and HBO, Gervais played Andy Millman, an aspiring actor who only lands roles as an extra, and welcomed special guest stars including Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Winslet, Patrick Stewart, Ben Stiller, and more.

On one episode, David Bowie also made a guest appearance during the second season of Extras in 2006. After getting harsh reviews of the sitcom he’s starring in, When the Whistle Blows, Millman (Gervais) finds himself in a VIP lounge where he tries to talk to Bowie, who only ridicules him even more for his failures.

As they’re talking at the table, Bowie starts singing Little fat man who sold his soul / Little fat man who sold his dream, a song Gervais wrote for the episode. Bowie sings the first few lines of “Little Fat Man”,” Bowie” then turns around and finishes the song on the piano.

Little fat man who sold his soul
Little fat man who sold his dream

Chubby little loser, national joke…
Pathetic little fat man
No one’s bloody laughing
The clown that no one laughs at
They all just wish he’d die

“I remember I sent him [Bowie] the lyrics, and I called him up and said, ‘Did you get the lyrics?’” recalled Gervais in 2024. “And he went, ‘Yeah, yeah.’And I said, ‘Give me something sort of retro, like ‘Life On Mars.’ And he went ‘Oh yeah, I’ll knock off a quick f– king ‘Life On Mars’ for you’.” Bowie then composed the music for the song.

He added, “I realized that was so insulting. He’s doing my little sitcom, and [I’m asking] ‘Do your opus.’ I just sort of laughed, and then he came, and he was just really funny. He was really charming, really smart, really funny.”

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Gervais called working with Bowie “One of the best days of my life.” He added, “He was a hero of mine. Properly my hero, I’d say.”

Bowie’s Extras cameo marked his final appearance on television before he died in 2016.

[RELATED: The Iggy Pop Heroin Ballad That United David Bowie and Tina Turner, “Tonight”]

Seaona Dancing

Decades before Gervais collaborated with Bowie, he was fronting his own glam rock band, Seona Dancing. The synth-pop duo consisted of Gervais on lead vocals and keyboardist Bill Macrae, who both met while attending University College London. Formed in 1982, Seona Dancing were signed to London Records and released two singles in 1983: “More to Lose,” which became a hit in the Phillipines, and “Bitter Heart.” Both were co-written by the two, though the songs never reached any chart success.

Years after the duo split, Gervais continued working music into some of his roles, writing “Freelove Freeway,” performed by his character, David Brent, on The Office, along with other songs he wrote with his former fictional band Foregone Conclusion. ”Freelove Freeway” was later recroded by Oasis‘ Noel Gallagher, featuring Gervais for The Office Christmas Specials DVD in 2004.

By 2006, Gervais was at it again, writing a song for the Simpsons episode “Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife.” Gervais can be heard during the closing credits singing “Lady Riff,” an instrumental, spoken-word song he wrote for the show.

“I sneak a song into everything I do,” Gervais told Graham Norton in 2016. “I wrote a song for ‘The Simpsons,’ I wrote a song with David Bowie for ‘Extras.’ I’m a frustrated, failed musician.”

Photo: Gary Gershoff/WireImage