David Bowie almost walked away from his famous and unlikely duet with Bing Crosby<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The rock singer agreed to the duet because his mom loved Crosby<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
For Bowie to agree, the writers of the Merrie Olde Christmas special had to make tweaks to the song<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The now-iconic duet between Bing Crosby<\/a> and David Bowie<\/a> almost didn\u2019t happen. Filmed for Crosby\u2019s 1977 holiday special, Merrie Olde Christmas<\/a>, there was one big reason that Bowie almost walked away.<\/p>\n Despite the fact that his mother loved Crosby, Bowie had an objection to the original song they pitched him, according to PBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n TV Times via Getty <\/p>\n Singers Bing Crosby (L) and David Bowie<\/p>\n \u201cWe had decided that we wanted them to do a duet of a \u2018Little Drummer Boy,\u2019 and when we told Bowie about the number, he said, \u2018I won\u2019t sing that song.’ We said, \u2018Why?\u2019 and he said, \u2018I hate that song,'” Larry Grossman, writer for Merrie Olde Christmas, recalled.<\/p>\n “He said, \u2018If I have to sing that song, I can\u2019t do the show,'” the writer added.<\/p>\n Grossman recalled Bowie saying that he was only \u201cdoing the show because my mother loves Bing Crosby.\u201d<\/p>\n So, they had to change the original plan for the 1977 PBS Christmas special, making the duet a mash-up with “Peace on Earth.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided the best way to salvage the arrangement was to do a counter melody that would fit in between the spaces and maybe write a new bridge and see if we can sell him that,\u201d Buz Kohan, co-writer of Merrie Olde Christmas alongside Grossman, explained.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Bing Crosby and David Bowie<\/p>\n \u201cWithin an hour, we had it written, and we were able to present it to him again,\u201d Kohan said. \u201cBing loved the challenge, and he was able to transform himself without losing any of the \u2018Crosby-isms\u2019 \u2014\u00a0that relaxed feeling and the atmosphere that he would always create whenever he was on camera.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Christmas special was taped in September 1977, Crosby died of a heart attack just five weeks later at the age of 74.\u00a0The hour-long program aired\u00a0posthumously at the end of November in the United States and on Christmas Eve in England.<\/p>\n The song “Peace on Earth\/Little Drummer Boy” was eventually released as a single by RCA Records in November 1982, and it peaked at No. 3 on the United Kingdom Singles chart, making it Crosby\u2019s final popular hit. The song was also a success for Bowie, with a total estimated sales of over 400,000 in the UK alone.<\/p>\n In addition to Bowie, Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas featured performances and appearances by Twiggy, Ron Moody,\u00a0Stanley Baxter, the Trinity Boys Choir, and members of the Crosby family.<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n![\"TV](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/b09cc879fde61b3e1ffaef9b7a66ad9f.jpeg\"\/)
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