It would have been the collaboration of the century, but it never happened. Country singer Dwight Yoakam is claiming that Elvis Presley approached David Bowie about working together in 1977. He also reportedly encountered Bowie in 1997 and the two had a strong bond over their shared love of the fallen legend, Presley.
Yoakam recently spoke with The Orange County Register (via NME) to examine in depth an meeting he and Bowie had in 1997. During the time that the two spent together, Bowie reportedly confessed that six months before he died, Presley had asked him to serve as the producer on his next album. Presley was also supposedly a big fan of “Golden Years” by Bowie, which was inspired by the “Hound Dog” singer himself.
“I thought ‘Oh my God, it’s a tragedy that he was never able to make that.’ I couldn’t even imagine 1977 David Bowie producing Elvis,” Yoakam said. “It would have been fantastic. It has to be one of the greatest tragedies in pop music history that it didn’t happen, one of the biggest missed opportunities.”
While the jury is still out as to if the story is entirely true, it was widely known that Bowie was a huge fan of Presley, and the two also shared a Jan. 8 birthday as well as abundant musical talent.
In other posthumous Bowie rumors, Kanye West will not be producing an album filled with Bowie covers as was previously reported by various British tabloids. Fans took to the internet to fight the supposed album that West himself had never officially confirmed, one named Peter Piranha even starting a petition to halt production of the album. The petition currently has upwards of 20,000 signatures, but a representative for West denies that the project was even on the horizon according to TMZ.
