For the past few years there have been rumors that David Bowie is going to headline the Coachella Music Festival. And for the past few years, Bowie has not and he’s not going to this year either. But this year’s annual Bowie at Coachella rumor jumps right to the top of Ridiculous Bowie Rumors, even more ridiculous than the rumor that sieg heiled in Victoria Station (he did not). Someone has gotten the notion into their head that Bowie is going to resurrect Ziggy Stardust for this year’s Coachella. *record scratching sound*
Yep, read that again. Let it sink in. That’s right. It started with a simple rumor that Bowie was not only going to play at Coachella, but that he might play the entire album of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. From there it morphed into a rumor that he was going to play the entire Ziggy album. Then, it transformed into a rumor that not only was he going to play the entire Ziggy album but that he was going to do it dressed up as Ziggy Stardust. It’s like a mind-numblingly stupid game of Telephone.
A little common sense can dispel the second part of this rumor. First of all, Bowie is known for being fashion forward and style conscious. Taking that into consideration, would it make sense for a man like that to bedeck his 62-year-old body with spandex, stack-heeled platform boots, and Kabuki makeup? No matter how good a shape that 62-year-old body is in, no, it does not make sense. Secondly, has Bowie ever gone back and rehashed past personas? No. Thirdly, his wife is Iman. If he tried to do that, she would be all “Listen to Iman” (4:45 in) and not let him set foot out of the house in Ziggy garb.
Like the Berlin rumor, though, there are at least a couple of websites that took the time to do a modicum of fact-checking before they published news items….and one of those sites is Perez Hilton. Seriously, if Perez Hilton can report on this correctly then I think every entertainment site should be able to.
Comments
4 responses to “Another Rumor about David Bowie – This Time Reheating the Coachella Rumor”
It is tiresome, but nature abhors a vacuum and the fan world at large finds it hard to accept that Bowie is not a nostalgia act. I’m with him: nostalgia creeps me out. With AC/DC still running around in short pants, Led Zeppelin going out with a vocalist who isn’t Robert Plant, and the worlds-in-collision that is The Police, I’d say Bowie has made the smart choice.
Absolutely. He knows when to retire a character and let it stay that way.
Also, you forgot Queen with non-Freddie Mercury and The New Cars. *shudder*
And to think I’d almost forgotten…dementia has its upside.
Me again…the rumour (and its immediate denial) hit my local NPR station as part of a general announcement of the festival. There seems to be a Bowie-shaped virus in the collective headspace, all this energy devoted to the rumour.
By the way, check out a comedian named Steve Riks (if you haven’t already dug him). He’s made rockers his imitative specialty, and Bowie his particular focus, nay, obsession. His version of Bowie’s laugh made me scream, so I’m not doing it right.
Yet.