Anthony Kiedis on David Bowie: “He’s like a wizard”
When David Bowie died in 2016, the music world united in mourning and grief. Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis was devastated following the loss of Bowie, an artist that had been in his life since adolescence. If Kiedis felt down and needed a pick-me-up, he’d turn to a Bowie record, which never failed to keep his mind racing.
On many occasions, Kiedis tried to convince Bowie to enter the studio with Red Hot Chili Peppers and produce one of their albums. However, despite the numerous opportunities he was given by the band to collaborate, Bowie was never interested. Thankfully, Kiedis never let the rejection dampen his love of Bowie and always respected the late singer-songwriter’s decision. After all, the selectiveness that the ‘Starman’ adopted throughout his career is precisely why he was so special. If there was a project he was unsure about, he’d simply reject it.
It wasn’t only Red Hot Chili Peppers who Bowie turned down, however. He also said no to an offer to work with Dave Grohl, the soundtrack for a James Bond movie, and even an honour from the Queen. Appearing on Jonsey’s Jukebox radio show, Kiedis said: “Every record we ever made, we had the band discussion: ‘Who should we get to produce this record?’ ‘I don’t know, we have to try someone new. Let’s get David Bowie!”
The singer added: “He said no to us like, two or three times, but his mate [Brian] Eno, who we’ve also been asking our entire career to please produce a record for us, has said no eight times. All good. You gotta ask. And by the way, ‘no’ is a reasonable answer. It’s one of a couple of answers you could get, and it’s acceptable.”
Even though they met many times, Kiedis always viewed Bowie as somebody from the supernatural and described him as a “wizard”. A few months after his death, the Chili’s frontman explained what Bowie meant to him and how his art would continue to live on “forever” even though his body had advanced to another realm.
“He just found his way into my heart immediately, I was so taken with his art and his beauty and his presentation and his sound,” Kiedis told Absolute Radio. “He’s like a wizard who instantly cast a spell on you. And I never lost it, all through my teenage years, and young twenties, I could turn to his music for inspiration in life. If I wanted to feel high on art and colour and sound, and just a dude with a vivid imagination, I could turn to him, and that never went away.”
The frontman poignantly added: “He never stopped being himself the whole time as an artist, it was pretty miraculous, and he was also a very kind, humble dude. The guy was on it forever, and he always will be. God bless him.”
While Kiedis never achieved his dream of crafting art with Bowie, he’ll always have his music to remember him. He was cast under a spell from his first introduction to the popstar and will likely remain enchanted by Bowie’s brilliance until his final breath.
