“This is the greatest and best song in the world. Tribute.” – Tenacious D
As we finally begin to get over the loss of David Bowie, normal service is gradually resuming. Almost.
Did you hear this week about Kanye West supposedly planning to record and release a Bowie tribute album? But said album has been railroaded via an online petition, presumably signed by irate Bowie fans, in order to put the kibosh on said Kanye tribute album? Only then for Kanye to say it was all just a silly rumour in the first place. We love the internet.
Kanye’s (not happening) tribute isn’t the sole nod to the Thin White Duke. Take That’s Howard Donald was so moved by the ‘Space Oddity’ singer’s death that he named his new son Bowie Donald, born two days after David’s passing.
Other tribute news this week included the announcement of a Fleetwood Mac tribute concert to be held over two days in Los Angeles next month. The non-too-shabby line-up paying homage to Mick Fleetwood & co includes Mark Ronson, Cold War Kids, The Kills and Joanna Newsom.
You could say the notion of ‘the tribute’ is big news at the moment, so we want your examples of when artists have paid tribute to their peers.
Songs that feature the names of other famous musicians (Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’, Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Californication’, Counting Crows ‘Mrs Jones’), perhaps a band whose name is taken from another artist’s song title (Radiohead, Stiff Little Fingers, Squeeze, Machine Head), or other more obscure tributes (did you know The Killers are named after the fictional band in the music video for the New Order song ‘Crystal’?).
You could even hit us up with some ingenious and creative tribute band names. Today’s Specials. Not So Keane. Razorlike. Oasish. You get the idea.
You’re in control of the music so let us know what tribute-related music you want us to play – including the reasons WHY - to Tom Robinson via the hashtag #TributeMusic to help create a playlist. Comment on the Now Playing Facebook page, here on the blog, email nowplaying@bbc.co.uk or drag tracks onto our Spotify playlist.
