Fatboy Slim regrets meeting David Bowie: “I was just deflated”
Fatboy Slim has revealed that one of his biggest regrets is meeting David Bowie because, according to the DJ – whose real name is Norman Cook – Bowie was “unimpressed” when they met at the height of Cook’s fame. Cook had recently been in conversation with Kevin Bishop at the Brighton Beach House and discussed his life and career up to this point.
Bishop asked Cook whether he thinks that people ought to meet their heroes or not, and Cook tentatively responded, “Errr… most of them,” which already gave us a hint that he had some kind of regret at meeting a famous musician hiding in the closet.
When Bishop pressed Cook to reveal exactly who Cook regretted meeting, he replied, “It’s David Bowie,” prompting gasps from the audience. Cook then explained that Bowie had hosted a private show in London when warming up for an upcoming live tour. Cook had been at the top of his game at the time and managed to wrangle an invite to the after-party.
Apparently, Cook had had “a few drinks,” so he was brimming with confidence. Both musicians hail from Bromley, so Cook decided to use that connection to begin speaking to Bowie. He asked, “One Bromley boy to another, can I have a fag off you?”
Bowie did indeed hand Cook a cigarette but then just looked at him blankly for a moment before turning away. Cook then told Bowie, “I’m Fatboy Slim, by the way,” to which Bowie merely replied, “Yeah, I know,” before continuing his conversation with someone else.
Meeting Bowie clearly left a bitter taste in Cook’s mouth. “I was just deflated,” he said, adding that Bowie was “perfectly civil,” but just “unimpressed” by Cook’s attendance. He concluded: “Most of the people who you love are lovely really, and the bigger they are, the lovelier they tend to be. They don’t need to prove their ego or that they’re cleverer than you. The big ones are just really nice people.”
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