Why did David Bowie claim to hate singing?
Over the course of six decades, David Bowie shaped the music industry with his innovative approach to songwriting and performance, cementing himself as one of pop culture’s most influential figures. In the early 1960s, Bowie embarked on a musical career that was initially unsuccessful. However, after studying dramatic arts, including avant-garde theatre, Bowie became enthralled with the idea of creating personas. He toured with T. Rex, opening up shows by performing a mime act, before releasing his first successful single, Space Oddity, in 1969, coinciding with the Apollo 11 moon landings.
By the 1970s, Bowie was an icon known for his androgynous style, shapeshifting into various personas over the decade, including Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke. He once stated: “I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human. I felt very puny as a human. I thought, ‘Fuck that. I want to be a superhuman.'” Furthermore, his biographer David Buckley wrote: “After Bowie, there has been no other pop icon of his stature because the pop world that produces these rock gods doesn’t exist any more. The fierce partisanship of the cult of Bowie was also unique—its influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom.”
The musician released 11 albums during the decade, including Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane, all of which have been considered highly influential records. Yet, the musician continued his success into the following decade, continuously experimenting with new sounds and genres. Although the latter end of the 1980s was less prosperous, a stint fronting the hard rock outfit Tin Machine brought Bowie back to speed, and he moved into the 1990s with a newfound penchant for electronic music.
Until his death in 2016, Bowie remained one of music’s most groundbreaking artists, and his stunning final album Blackstar, released two days before his death, confirmed this. Yet, despite Bowie’s success in his career, he once claimed that he hated singing. He explained: “I hate my singing voice. I hate singing, really. It’s not an enjoyment; I mean, someone’s gotta do it. I like interpreting songs, I guess that’s what it is about – the whole process. I like writing, firstly and foremostly.”
He continued: “I would give my right arm – maybe not my right arm. I would give somebody’s right arm if I could find someone to sing all of my songs for me, I really would.” Moreover, in 2003, an unaired interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes saw Bowie express the same sentiment. He said: “I was never particularly fond of my voice. I thought that I wrote songs and wrote music, and that was sort of what I thought I was best at doing. And because nobody else was ever doing my songs, I felt, you know, I had to go out and do them.”
Regardless of these feelings, he asserted that he “cannot really envision life without writing, and producing records, and singing…I think, in short, it’s as cornball as that. You know? It really is what I do. And I’m so glad I chose that to be my profession. It’s been just terrific.”
