They were merely acquaintances who would frequent the same events due to their respective lofty positions in the music industry.
However, in the 1980s, Bowie and Jagger grew close when they lived in New York City. During this time, they were the closest of associates who enjoyed the pleasures that the Big Apple had to offer and burnt the candle at both ends.
Significantly, their friendship led to the creation of the hit collaboration ‘Dancing In The Street‘, which brought the seismic talents of Jagger and Bowie together to create pop perfection. The track, which topped the chart in the United Kingdom, remains Jagger’s most successful release outside of The Rolling Stones.
After Jagger departed New York City, their encounters became less regular, but they continued to be in touch. However, as everybody knows from their own lives, it can be difficult to maintain those relationships forever without face-to-face interaction. There wasn’t a giant falling out that caused them to spend less time with one another. Instead, life simply had different plans for the pair. It wasn’t possible to party like it was the ’80s forever, and they went down their chosen routes.
As a result, during the latter years of Bowie’s life, Jagger wasn’t part of it, which upset him greatly upon discovering that ‘The Starman’ had passed away in 2016.
After Bowie retired from the touring circuit in 2004, he also largely disappeared from the public eye, focusing on his family above all else, eliminating the chances of catching up with Jagger at an industry event.
Jagger was aware his old friend was in ill health but didn’t realise the severity of his health problems until it was too late.
Jagger said: “I know David stopped touring around 2004 after having some health problems. After that, he kind of vanished, both from my life and the stage, so to speak, until he came back with an album that was a very interesting piece. It’s really sad when somebody leaves and you haven’t spoken to them for a long while. You wish you’d done this; you wish you’d done that. But that’s what happens. Strange things happen in life.”
Jagger recalled his immediate thought upon listening to Blackstar was to contact Bowie. However, rather than act upon his instincts instantly, Jagger regrettably waited, and as a result, he never had one last conversation with Bowie. Jagger recalled: “I thought I must get in touch with him as I hadn’t seen him in a long time. But he died almost immediately after that. I was very upset. I was listening to his album before he died and ahead of it coming out.”
(Excerpt from Farout)
