Paul Weller has made many reckless comments throughout his career, and most of the time, he doesn’t intend to cause any harm with his off-the-cuff remarks. However, occasionally, those on the receiving end of his barbed declarations understandably take offence. In one instance, Weller decided to walk back his disparaging one-word critique of David Bowie.
After a difficult time in the 1990s, Bowie was finally viewed as a legendary figure the following decade after his historic headline set at Glastonbury in 2000. In the eyes of most music fans, Bowie was a mythical artist who was incapable of doing anything wrong and existed in a different orbit from everybody else. However, Weller disagreed with the masses.
In 2007, Bowie was honoured by the Brit Awards, which gave him the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. The presentation was supposed to be a celebration of his iconic career. However, Weller was quoted by The Sun as stating: “I like about three records of his. The rest of it’s pish.”
While this was a throwaway line, it made headlines and led to talk of a feud between the two artists. The former Jam frontman didn’t intend to cause any malice and later apologised for insulting the iconic artist, explaining how Bowie’s music has played a vital role in his life.
He told Mojo: “I’m a born-again Bowie freak! The next time he sees me, I’ll have a fucking great Aladdin Sane flash on me boat race. Every night, we’d drive home to London after recording and have Ziggy Stardust on five or six times. Low’s one of my favourite records anyway. Whatever gripes I’ve had about Bowie in the past, Low’s been a constant since I bought it in 1977.”
Weller’s sincere apology made its way to Bowie, who took it upon himself to reach out to the one-time Style Council leader. His humourous email reportedly read: “Nice one, Paul. Can I have (my) haircut back now?”
The ‘Modfather’ dearly adores Low, and every word of his apology is genuine. Furthermore, Weller named it one of the albums that changed his life to Goldmine, remarking: “Hearing this album was a shock. It showed how pop music could also be. Deconstructed pop and very Euro influenced.”
He added: “It wasn’t well received at the time with critics, but nevertheless, its import was all over the post-punk and ’80s scene.”
Additionally, in 2018, Weller paid tribute to the late artist by recording the track ‘Bowie’ for his 2018 album True Meanings. The song represents a full-circle moment, which would have seemed outlandish a decade prior but holds much more significance than an ill-thought-out comment that he’d later regret.
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