• Writers: David Bowie, John Lennon, and Carlos Alomar
• Producers: David Bowie and Harry Maslin
• Recorded: February 1975 at the Record Plant, New York City
• Released: August 1975
• Players:
  David Bowie — vocals, guitar
  John Lennon — vocals, guitar
  Carlos Alomar — guitar
  Emir Kassan — bass
  Dennis Davis — drums
  Ralph McDonald — percussion
• Album: Young Americans (RCA, 1975)
• Also On:
  Changesonebowie (RCA, 1976)
  Stage (RCA, 1978)
  Fame And Fashion (RCA, 1984)
  Changesbowie (Rykodisc, 1990)
  and other compilations.
• “Fame” — David Bowie‘s bitter essay on the perils of celebrity (“Fame/What you get is no tomorrow”) — was his first Number One hit in the U.S., spending two weeks in that position.
• It was also his first single to reach any higher than Number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
• This recording collaboration between Bowie and John Lennon yielded two songs — “Fame” and a cover of the Beatles‘ “Across The Universe.”
• During the session, Lennon reportedly gave Bowie advice on sorting out some management problems he was having. Bowie has continued to credit Lennon’s observations for helping him get his career in good order.
• The Bowie-Lennon session occurred after the initial recording for the Young Americans album was completed. Lennon and Bowie wrote the song and Bowie immediately scheduled a recording session for it. Guitarist Carlos Alomar actually created the “Fame” riff for a cover of the Flare song “Footstompin’,” which Bowie was also working on.
• With its spare R&B stance, Young Americans was viewed as one of Bowie’s many stylistic departures.
• Propelled by “Fame,” the album peaked at Number Nine on the Billboard 200 and scored a gold album.

FAST FORWARD:

• Bowie has continued to record and perform, with occasional forays into acting.
• Lennon was assassinated on December 8th, 1980, in front of his New York City apartment building by a deranged fan named Mark David Chapman, .
• Bowie married the fashion model Iman on April 24th, 1992.
• Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 but did not attend the ceremony.
• In 1997, Bowie offered “shares” — or “Bowie Bonds,” as they came to be known — backed by his projected future income for past projects. The move, which was the first of its kind in rock, was a huge success.