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‘Not worthy’: David Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti slams fans for calling Harry Styles ‘new Bowie'

Tony Visconti shot down the claim that Harry Styles is the new David Bowie

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: David Bowie's producing partner Tony Visconti has responded to the claims that Harry Styles is the "new Bowie" after the singer bagged two of the biggest awards at the Grammys on Sunday night, February 5. The 78-year-old American producer is widely known for working with countless performers since the 1960s, most notable being Bowie. The professional duo has had the longest collaboration spanning from 1968 until his final album 'Blackstar' in 2016.

On the revered awards night held in Los Angeles, Styles was awarded the Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of The Year for his album ‘Harry's House.’ This led to some fans claiming that the pop star could be the “new bowie” considering his worldwide success after leaving One Direction. However, Visconti completely thrashed the idea and called him “not worthy of shining in [Bowie's] shoes.” Visconti took to his Facebook page to voice his opinion: “What’s the difference between the Grammys and Las Vegas?” he wrote in the post shared on Monday, February 6, as per the Daily Mail.

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'Not worth of shining in his shoes'

Referring to Styles’ live Grammy performance of his hit single 'As It Was', he wrote: “Someone just told me that Harry Styles is the new Bowie? From what I saw tonight, he’s not worthy of shining in his shoes.” 

Numerous fans of Visconti came in support of his view, with one responding, “There will NEVER be anyone that’s the new David Bowie he is in a class of his own always will be unique.” Another commented, “Surprisingly, I love Harry. ‘Fine Line’ kept me company during the pandemic and ‘Golden’ is a great pop record, but he’s nowhere close to Bowie.” Styles, on the other hand, has always been vocal about his inspirations both in music and fashion which includes Bowie, Prince, Mick Jagger, and Freddie Mercury.

Grammys were 'rigged from the beginning'

The 'Two Ghosts' hitmaker who won the Album of the Year award that night beat the likes of Beyonce to win the top spot. This instance has been called out by fans with many pointing out Styles' connection with Grammy producer Ben Winston that led him to grab such an honor. The duo has known each other for more than a decade. Moreover, the voice at the beginning of Styles' single 'As It Was' is of the daughter of Winston. The revelation sent Twitter into a frenzy claiming that the award show was "rigged from the beginning." 

While accepting the honor on stage, Style said, "Man. I've been so, so inspired by every artist in this category with me. At a lot of different times in my life, I listened to everyone in this category when I'm alone. And I think like on nights like tonight, it's obviously so important for us to remember that there is no such thing as bests in music." He continued, "I don't think any of us sit in the studio thinking making decisions based on what is going to get us one of these. This is really, really kind. I'm so, so grateful. I'm going to pass it over to my collaborators who are... this doesn't happen to people like me very often. And this is so, so nice. Thank you very, very much." 

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