During an interview, David Bowie discussed attending an Elvis Presley concert. The “Space Oddity” regretted something he wore at the concert. Interestingly, Bowie felt Elvis and other 1950s icons stood in sharp contrast to the big names of the 1970s.
David Bowie preferred Elvis Presley to John Denver
During a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone, Bowie discussed his feelings about the United States. He said he wouldn’t mind being the nation’s first English president. Bowie wanted to turn the United States into a “great nation.” He lamented the contemporary state of American pop culture, finding it inferior to the American pop culture of the 1950s.
“Just look at the cultural leaders of today,” Bowie said. “Once they were Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and Elvis Presley. Now it’s Robert Redford and John Denver … and these are supposed to be the degenerate Seventies. It doesn’t look good for America. They let people like me trample all over their country.”
David Bowie had the opportunity to work with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll
This 1971 concert was not the last time Bowie and Elvis crossed paths. During a 2016 interview with The Orange County Register, country singer Dwight Yoakam discussed the two rock legends. He said Elvis heard Bowie’s song “Golden Years.”
Subsequently, Elvis asked Bowie to produce one of his albums in 1977, the year of his death. Elvis and Bowie never made the album. Yoakam didn’t explain whether this was because of Elvis’ death or other reasons. Yoakam said the fact that Bowie never produced an Elvis album was one of the greatest tragedies in music history. Even if Bowie didn’t work with Elvis, he certainly knew how to make an entrance at one of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s concerts.
