Which Beatle co-wrote David Bowie's 1975 song Fame?

John Lennon co-wrote David Bowie’s 1975 song “Fame.” The official writing credits are Bowie, Carlos Alomar, and Lennon.

The song grew from a guitar riff Carlos Alomar had developed during Bowie’s Young Americans sessions. At Electric Lady Studios in New York in January 1975, Lennon improvised the vocal hook “aim,” which Bowie reshaped into “Fame.” Lennon’s contributions were sufficient for a co-writing credit, although accounts differ about how extensive his lyrical input was.

“Fame” appeared on Young Americans and became Bowie’s first US number-one single. Lennon also played guitar and sang backing vocals on the recording, which helped make his involvement more substantial than a brief studio cameo.

A common mix-up is choosing Paul McCartney, George Harrison, or Ringo Starr simply because Lennon was a former Beatle. None of those three Beatles received a writing credit on “Fame.”