David Bowie Was a SpongeBob SquarePants Fan

The SpongeBob Squarepants Musical will be making its debut later this year in the States (and hopefully to our part of the world soon – Singapore, we’re looking at you). Featuring music from David Bowie, The Flaming Lips, Aerosmith, T.I., Brian Eno and more; the original musical conceived specifically for Broadway is set to turn theatres into Bikini Bottom.

While The Flaming Lips’ ‘Tomorrow Is’ and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry’s ‘Bikini Bottom Boogie’ were composed specifically for it; ‘No Control’ originally appeared on Bowie’s 19th album, the conceptual 1. Outside that saw him reuniting with Brian Eno. The song has been modified for the musical. Here’s the original 1995 version below:

The Thin White Duke’s SpongeBob-fandom runs deep. Back in 2007, he voiced a blue Atlantean Lord on Atlantis SquarePantis – a special 45-minute musical episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. His character, Lord Royal Highness, didn’t sing but had one blue eye (like Bowie) and also the best line in the show…

“Art is what happens when you learn to dream.”

Read our Editorial Director’s memorial piece on Bowie here. Checkout Bowie’s very personal drawings and sketches here.