Chris Young helps David Bowie land his first country #1

During his lifetime, David Bowie achieved Number One hits in two different genres: the glam rock of “Fame” in 1975 and the dance-pop of “Let’s Dance” eight years later. However, he never secured a chart-topping country hit—until now, posthumously.

Sort of.

This week, Chris Young’s country single “Young Love & Saturday Nights,” first released in July 2023, hit Number One on the Country Aircheck/Mediabase country radio chart. Its success is partly due to its recognizable elements: the song features a recreation of the famous guitar riff from Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” along with part of its melody. While the original lyrics reference a “hot tramp,” Young’s version tells a story about “good girls falling for bad boys.” As a result, Bowie now has his first country Number One.

This single highlights the growing trend of interpolation, where classic songs are legally incorporated into new ones. Recent examples include Olivia Rodrigo’s “Deja Vu” (which echoes Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer”) and Jelly Roll and Dustin Lynch’s “Chevrolet” (which draws from Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away”).

The use of Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” was made possible after Warner Chappell Music acquired his song catalog in 2022, allowing them to incorporate his music into new works like Young’s song. Bowie is now credited alongside Nashville songwriters Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure, and Josh Thompson.

Reflecting on this, Young told *Rolling Stone* last year, “There are a lot of songs where people use samples or replicate melodies or lyrics. This is different. It’s creating something new while giving a nod to something that already existed. If you catch the reference, it makes the song even cooler. And having David Bowie listed as a songwriter is just amazing.”

Other recent examples of interpolation include Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ “I Remember Everything,” which incorporated Willie Nelson’s *On the Road Again*; MacKenzie Carpenter’s *Country Girls (Just Wanna Have Fun)*, which borrowed from Cyndi Lauper’s hit; and Kane Brown’s *I Can Feel It*, which referenced Phil Collins’ *In the Air Tonight*.

However, the use of Bowie’s *Rebel Rebel* stands out as the most ironic, given his personal musical tastes. In a 2002 interview with NPR, Bowie remarked, “I think the only music I didn’t listen to was country & western, and that holds to this day.”

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