John Lennon provided supporting vocals and guitar on the David Bowie classic song “Fame”. They were at Electric Lady Studios, New York in January 1975 and had recorded a cover of The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” that was used for Bowie’s “Young Americans” album. They started jamming and using the title “Fame” that Lennon came up with and a guitar riff written by Bowie band member Carlos Alomar, Bowie quickly developed the song and recorded it.
Lennon was given a co-writing credit due to the lyrics (bemoaning the nature of celebrity) and conversations he had with Bowie on the subject, and because Bowie acknowledged that Lennon singing “Fame!” over Alomar’s guitar riff was the catalyst for the song.
Here’s a great photo of John Lennon, Yoko Ono & David Bowie (love that Elvis pin John is wearing)
Here’s Bowie’s amazing cover of The Beatles “Across The Universe” which Lennon also performed guitar and background vocals for.















