During a video segment at last week’s BBC Music Awards, Chris Martin revealed that David Bowie turned down a guest spot on a Coldplay song, according to a report from NME. “One time I sent him a song to ask him to sing on it,” Martin said. “He called me and said, ‘It’s not one of your best.’ He’s got very high standards and I appreciate that. It inspires the rest of us to keep our standards high.” Martin also gushed over Bowie’s accomplishments when he returned to making music last year after a decade-long absence: “When ‘Where Are We Now?” [the lead single to 2013’s The Next Day] came out I was staggered and also annoyed. Like, come on it’s not fair. He’s already got all these amazing songs and then this instant classic.”

[Photo by Jimmy King.]