When two worlds collide, the magic that is produced can be as brilliant as it is unexpected. Here, we explore examples where generations mingle, where wildly different genres fuse, and where artists of a different approach explore each other’s methodology.
Whether that’s hip hop meeting heavy metal, a crooner and an art rocker, or drone rock and avant pop, all of these meetings of minds and spirits enjoyed learning a new way of working – not to mention being exposed to a new audience.
Some of these collisions saw huge egos suppressed for the greater good, while others just seem to have been having fun. Regardless, they are all great listens, as the following selection demonstrates.
Rock's 11 most unlikely collaborations
11. Run-DMC & Aerosmith
The worlds of hip-hop and rock seemed miles apart, so when the great New York rap group Run-DMC teamed up with Boston rockers Aerosmith for ‘Walk This Way’ in 1986, few would have predicted the effect it would have.
Not only did it revive Aerosmith’s career, it also went a long way to bringing rap music to a mainstream rock audience. The song merged rap verses with rock riffs, while the iconic video symbolically broke down genre barriers. It could have been a novelty song, but instead became a cultural milestone. All together now, ‘Walk this way!’
10. David Bowie & Bing Crosby
It shouldn’t work, and yet somehow, it became a Christmas cracker. On paper, David Bowie and Bing Crosby were worlds apart. When they sang TV duet of ‘Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy’ in 1977, the initial response was utter bafflement. But the clip soon became an enduring holiday classic.
Bowie was apparently initially hesitant, and reportedly only agreed after new lyrics were written. The result was a seamless counterpoint between the two voices. Somehow, the performance transcends novelty and became a genuine fusion of eras.
Although we’re still not sure that Bing knew who David was.
9. Tammy Wynette & The KLF
On the subject of which, could country legend Tammy Wynette have known who she was teaming up with? British electronic provocateurs The KLF were as much an artistic concept as a pop group, but as bizarre as it sounds, the pairing was brilliant.
‘Justified and Ancient’ fused house beats with Wynette’s unmistakable voice. It was surreal but so catchy.
Wynette explained to Entertainment Week how she was up for the collaboration as soon as The KLF played her a demo down the phone. "I fell for the track the moment I heard it. It had a perfect melody, but I didn’t really understand what they were talking about."
Fair comment. After all, with lyrics like "They're justified, and they're ancient, and they drive an ice cream van" before heading off to somewhere called Mu Mu Land, you can forgive her confusion.
Regardless, the song was a huge hit, and gave Wynette her highest position on the Billboard Hot 100, out-ranking even her classic ‘Stand By Your Man’.
8. Scott Walker & Sunn O)))
When the American avant-pop legend Scott Walker collaborated with US drone metal band Sunn O))) it was difficult to imagine how it would sound. As it turned out, Soused (2014) was a dark and immersive masterpiece.
Walker’s eerie, operatic vocals hover over crushing walls of distorted guitar, creating something more sound art than recognisable as pop or rock music.
Rather than meeting halfway, both artists doubled down on their extremes, producing an album that challenges but rewards in equal measure; the critics loved it.
7. Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave
Did you hear the one about the Gothic storyteller and the diminutive Aussie pop starlet? Nobody saw this one coming, but the duet ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ is a haunting and cinematic murder ballad told in alternating perspectives.
Kylie’s delicate vocals contrast perfectly with Cave’s dark narrative and the success of the collaboration surprised fans of both artists.
From here on, Minogue was taken more seriously as an artist by the traditional rock critics, while the song introduced the less-mainstream Cave to a broader audience. It had a great video too!
6. Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
It sounded like a dream pairing. Two of most innovative forces of the last 20 years came together in 1981 while McCartney was recording his new album, Tug Of War (1982). The sessions delivered two songs, the global smash single ‘Ebony & Ivory’ and the lesser known ‘What’s That You’re Doing?’.
And while the former is the best known, it also suffers from a reputation of being naïve (at best) and saccharine, to the point of nauseating.
But on ‘What’s That You’re Doing?’, the partnership delivered a belter, blending McCartney’s melodic instincts with Wonder’s soulful groove. It’s tight and funky, and much better than anything else Stevie Wonder (at least) had produced in some time.
5. Queen & David Bowie
Queen were holed up in their favourite recording hot spot of Montreux, Switzerland, to work on their new album, Hot Space (1982). Having spent years advertising that no synthesizers were used on their records, the London band had gone full circle and were now embracing dance music.
So it made sense to call up local resident David Bowie and invite him to the studio. After all, if any artist had a track record as an artistic shape-shifter, it was Bowie.
An unforgettable bassline underpinned the track, with wonderful vocal interplay between Bowie and Freddie Mercury helping create a song full of raw anxious energy.
‘Under Pressure’ is a masterclass in collaboration, in which two very distinct artistic identities merge without compromise to create something greater even than the sum of its parts.
4. Marianne Faithfull & Metallica
They were one of America’s biggest heavy metal bands, heavier and more intense than most rivals. She was the daughter of a British WWII spy and European nobility, who had caused quite the stir in the 60s thanks to her sex, drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle – not to mention a notorious relationship with Mick Jagger.
But when they came together on the 1997 single ‘The Memory Remains’, it was a perfect match.
Metallica flew to Dublin to record Marianne’ vocals, and while they were together, she entertained the rockers with tales from her times with The Rolling Stones.
As singer James Hetfield recalled, "She could sit and tell stories for days. But she's a very, very elegant and pleasant woman, very 'been there, done that'. You could learn a lot from that."
3. John Lennon & Elton John
John Lennon’s mid-70s collaboration with Elton John led to one of Lennon’s final live appearances. In the early 1970s, John Lennon left wife Yoko Ono in New York (at her insistence), and, hooking up with Yoko’s assistant May Pang, headed to California for an 18-month ‘lost weekend’.
During this period, Lennon was drinking heavily and using drugs while hanging out with a veritable who’s who of 70s rock, including Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon and Elton John.
While working on the 1974 Walls & Bridges album, Elton guested on piano and backing vocals on the song ‘Whatever Gets You Thru the Night’, betting Lennon that if it went to number one, Lennon would join him on stage.
The song did indeed top the charts, and, true to his word, Lennon joined Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden, in New York – where Yoko Ono was in the audience.
She and John met up after the show and, so the story goes, that meeting led to a reconciliation. Within months, John had moved back into their apartments at the Dakota opposite Central Park.
2. Sparks & Franz Ferdinand
In hindsight, it made perfect sense. After all, American art-pop veterans Sparks’ angular approach to rhythm mapped perfectly with Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand, and the resulting collab delivered a critically acclaimed album.
The supergroup went by the amusing moniker FFS, and their self-titled album is witty, quirky and sharp, blending Sparks’ theatrics with Franz Ferdinand’s dance-rock energy.
With trademark wit, one of the singles was called ‘Collaborations Don’t Work’. We beg to differ.
1. Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash had been a huge champion of the emerging young Bob Dylan, and they became friends after meeting at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. Cash recorded a number of Dylan’s songs, including three on his brilliant Orange Blossom Special (1965) album.
So when Cash launched The Johnny Cash Show on ABC in 1969, Dylan was happy to return the favour by appearing on the very first episode, duetting with the country legend on ‘Girl From The North Country’ (which they had recorded together on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline country album from earlier that year).
Dylan had been something of a public recluse since his 1966 motorcycle accident, and this performance marked his return to the public eye – and boosted sales of his country album to boot.
All pics Getty Images
Top image David Bowie sings the 'Little Drummer Boy' with Bing Crosby on the CBS presentation of "Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas" on November 30, 1977
