Trent Reznor and David Bowie famously collaborated on “I’m Afraid of Americans,” which was a single from Bowie’s 1997 album, Earthling. Reznor credits Bowie with being a mentor to him during an exceedingly dark time and claims that the legendary artist helped him get sober. Even in his early days, Reznor found inspiration from Bowie’s music, and said in a phone interview that Scary Monsters was the first one of the first he related to.
On one of the lower points in his life and struggle with drug addiction, Reznor said to Rolling Stone, “A full year later, I hit bottom. Once I got clean, I felt a tremendous amount of shame, of my actions and missed opportunities and the damage that I’ve caused in the past. And I thought back to the time when we were together a lot, and I wonder what that could have been if I was at 100 percent.”
This was also during the time that Bowie and Reznor collaborated on “I’m Afraid of Americans,” on which Reznor said, “The “I’m Afraid of Americans” video falls into that category of me at my worst - out of my mind and ashamed of who I was at that time. So when I see that, I have mixed feelings - grateful to be involved, and flattered to be a part of it, but disgusted at myself, at who I was at that time, and wishing I had been 100 percent me. And it nagged me.”
In the Rolling Stone David Bowie tribute issue, Reznor is one of a bevy of artists who credit Bowie with being an inspiration for their musical careers. Before the magazine hits stands, the publication will be releasing both letters and interviews from the likes of Mick Jagger, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Bowie’s very own bassist Gail Ann Dorsey. Each one of the interviews and letters released to the publication is said to be truly touching and pays tribute to the icon in a fitting way.
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