October started brightly with the truly mind-blowing news that Diana Ross, the First Lady of Motown, is going to be collaborating with Australia’s genre-pushing rockers Tame Impala.
The star hasn’t released an album since 2006’s I Love You but 2021 will see the arrival of her 25th studio album, titled Thank You. She worked alongside the omnipresent Jack Antonoff on the record, a man clearly not content working with literally every pop star aged between 18-30 it seems.
A source told Music News just how excited The Supremes legend was so to work with Tame Impala, saying, “She loves reinvention and melting genres together. She’s really excited to work with Tame Impala and is ecstatic with the track – she can’t wait for fans to hear it.”
Ross is now 77 while Kevin Parker is 35, a difference of four decades; however this one turns out, it’s definitely going to be interesting.
The unexpected new collaboration got us thinking about some of the other strangest musical collaborations so read on below to discover some truly odd pairings.
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Metallica and Lou Reed
Surely bringing together two of the best to ever do it in their respective genres would be a sure thing? Evidently not. When the metal legends and the seminal rock ‘n’ roll singer released the collaborative album Lulu in 2011, big things were expected but it was a well-meaning but terrible failure. Many of the songs were grating; others were downright unlistenable. Don’t worry you two, though, your legacy remains intact.
David Bowie and Bing Crosby
Festive fun without the fun. Two supreme legends got together to celebrate Christmas with a medley performance. They even did it in front of an open fire, the works. What ensued was just awkward and cringe, captured in glorious video. I don’t think poor Bing knows what a ‘Ziggy Stardust’ is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kfdEyV3RQ
Weezer and Kenny G
The lost hope of 90’s alternative rock had long since morphed into a meme by the time this 2010 collaboration came around. Still, hooking up with the Joke of Smooth Jazz probably didn’t help them. Titled ‘I’m Your Daddy’, the second track from their seventh album Raditude, that album title sums up just how far removed from cool this whole thing was.
The Flaming Lips and Miley Cyrus
Before becoming a mullet-rocking alternative rock favourite, Miley Cyrus really did her best to escape her Disney past by linking up with weirdo psych rockers The Flaming Lips. They collaborated on her 2015 album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, it was very, very strange, but not without its decent tracks. Honestly, more pop stars should be as courageous as Cyrus was.
Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy
The Prince of Darkness and The Prince of Bullying Kermit made for a wonderful 90’s pairing when Ozzy contributed a track to the 1994 Muppets album Kermit Unpigged. He and Miss Piggy belted out ‘Born to be Wild’ although the Black Sabbath man really carries the track, with his Muppet mate more interested in wisecracking japes and heavy flirting.
Sting and Shaggy
The Police singer was probably left pleading “It wasn’t me” after working with the much-derided reggae star in 2018. They released the collaborative album 44/876 (the title comes from the country calling codes for the U.K. and Jamaica, the pair’s home countries), and it actually turned out well in the end: it won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2019.
Jay-Z and Linkin Park
Nu metal and alternative metal were having quite the moment at the start of the 21st century which is probably what prompted Jay-Z to think it was a good idea to link up with Linkin Park. They produced the 2004 collaborative album Collision Course and, honestly, nostalgia has warped me into thinking it was actually fine. Not so for renowned music critic Robert Christgau: he simply offered the bomb emoji as his review for the EP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNPECkESPbU
Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong
He was a pop-punker boy, she was a smooth jazz singer, can I make it any more obvious? This weird collaboration got even weirder when they decided that their joint album should be a reinterpretation an album by The Everly Brothers from the 50’s. Foreverly came out in 2013 and was promptly forgotten basically foreverly.
