David Bowie’s long and unusual journey with Bring Me The Disco King has taken another turn, with a newly spotlighted remix surfacing online. The track, which has one of the strangest histories in Bowie’s catalogue, now returns in the Loner Mix featuring Maynard James Keenan of Tool and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The song’s history stretches back to 1992. Bowie first recorded Bring Me The Disco King as a fast-paced, uptempo number, intending it for his Black Tie White Noise album. For reasons never fully explained, Bowie shelved the track, and it sat unreleased.
Five years later, during the Earthling sessions in 1997, Bowie revisited the song, cutting a new version. Again, it was left off the final album. The track seemed destined to remain an outtake, despite Bowie himself speaking about its elusive qualities.
It wasn’t until 2003 that Bowie finally returned to Bring Me The Disco King and reinvented it once more—this time stripping it down to a stark, haunting, piano-driven piece. The final version became the closing track of his Reality album, a quiet and reflective end to what would be Bowie’s last album before his 10-year hiatus.
At the same time, producer and former Nine Inch Nails collaborator Danny Lohner created a radical remix for the soundtrack to the Underworld film, recruiting an all-star lineup. Maynard James Keenan delivered additional vocals, John Frusciante provided guitar, and Lohner’s production gave the track an electronic, industrial edge unlike any of Bowie’s original recordings.
That remix, known as the Loner Mix, has now been officially re-shared with a new visualiser, reintroducing the track to both Bowie fans and those who first discovered it through the Underworld soundtrack.
Bring Me The Disco King is an example of Bowie’s perfectionism and willingness to reshape his music until it felt right. A song that spent over a decade in limbo ultimately closed one of his final pre-hiatus albums and, in this latest form, serves as a reminder of his restless creativity and collaborative spirit.
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