On June 28th, 1975, the world was gifted David Bowie's first US number one single 'Fame', which included vocals from John Lennon.

'Fame' was released on Bowie's 1975 album Young Americans and was later issued as the album's second single by RCA Records in July 1975.

Written by Bowie, Carlos Alomar and John Lennon, it was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City in January that year. The funk-rock tune represents Bowie's dissatisfaction with the struggles of stardom.

'Fame' was also penned about impending lawsuits that were the result of the ending of Bowie's relationship with his manager Tony Defries.

By late 1974, Bowie was staying in New York, where he met John Lennon. The Beatle was in his "lost weekend" period of estrangement from his wife Yoko Ono at the time. The pair jammed together, leading to a one-day session at Electric Lady Studios in January 1975.

Bowie said that Lennon was the "energy" and the "inspiration" for 'Fame', which was why he received a co-writing credit.

According to producer Tony Visconti, “Bowie was terrified of meeting John Lennon”. Speaking on the programme Bowie: Dancing Out in Space, which aired on BBC Radio 4 and 6Music on in January 2021, Visconti was reportedly asked by Bowie to “buffer the situation”.

"About one in the morning I knocked on the door and for about the next two hours, John Lennon and David weren’t speaking to each other. Instead, David was sitting on the floor with an art pad and a charcoal and he was sketching things and he was completely ignoring Lennon. So, after about two hours of that, John finally said to David, ‘Rip that pad in half and give me a few sheets. I want to draw you.’ So David said, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea’, and he finally opened up. So John started making caricatures of David, and David started doing the same of John and they kept swapping them and then they started laughing and that broke the ice."

After his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars landed with a bang, Bowie achieved immense success.

The song was a major commercial success in North America, becoming Bowie's single to top the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Singles Chart. However, it was less successful in Europe, reaching number 17 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 1990, Bowie remixed the song under the title 'Fame '90' to coincide with his Sound+Vision Tour. 'Fame' has since appeared on many compilation albums, and was remastered in 2016 as part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) box set.

The track is one of four of Bowie's songs to be included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Revisit 'Fame' below.

READ: Exclusive interview with legendary Bowie producer Toni Visconti