David Bowie Performs "Heroes": Bing Crosby's 1977 Christmas Special
· BCPosted in: CBS, TV, YouTube | Tagged: david bowie
David Bowie Performs "Heroes": Bing Crosby's 1977 Christmas Special
Everyone remembers his duet during Bing Crosby's 1977 Christmas special, but David Bowie's performance of "Heroes" is a classic TV moment.
Published Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:04:04 -0600
by Ray Flook
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Last updated Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:05:40 -0600
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Article Summary
- David Bowie's "Heroes" performance on Bing Crosby's 1977 Christmas special remains a TV classic.
- The special is best known for Bowie's duet with Crosby on "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy."
- Bowie delivered an emotional, close-up version of "Heroes," featuring unique audio effects.
- Filmed in Elstree, UK, the episode originally aired in the US before debuting later in the UK.
When we think of classic crooner Bing Crosby's 1977 CBS Christmas television special, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas, the first thing that tends to spring to mind is that holiday duet between Crosby and the iconic singer/songwriter, David Bowie. Stopping by Crosby's home during the special, the two strike up a conversation about their musical tastes, realizing that they're not as different as they first thought. From there, viewers were treated to a beautiful performance of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy." However, that wasn't Bowie's only headline-grabbing performance during the special, as the singer-songwriter returned to perform what was then his current single, "Heroes" (from the album of the same name). With this being the Christmas season, and with how things have been going lately, we thought we would pass along a look back at Bowie's magic. But that's not all…
The official social media account for the late singer/songwriter shared a look at Bowie's performance heading into Christmas, offering some incredible backstory on how it went down, some things we didn't get to see, and more (with the video referenced embedded above for you to check out):
Back in 2016 we posted the then oft overlooked performance of "Heroes" recorded for Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special. Notable for the wonderfully bizarre, but nevertheless beautiful David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy, the broadcast also contained aforementioned video of "Heroes".
In the promo film, Bowie sings one of the most heartfelt and emotional performances of "Heroes" he ever delivered. The vocal was sung over a backing track, with some not so subtle phasing and echo effects on his voice that may well have been added after the event.
Looking amazing, he sings close up straight to camera while he also performs several set mime pieces superimposed along with the main performance.
Along with a little help from Particledots on the audio, @NachosVideos produced a new version without Bing's spoken introduction encroaching on the performance.
The show was filmed in Elstree just outside London in the UK on September 11th, 1977. Originally broadcast in the US by CBS on the 30th of November 1977, the UK had to wait another month to see exactly what the fuss was being reported in the music weeklies, when the show was finally aired there on Christmas Eve 1977.
FOOTNOTE: The shot of a shirtless Bowie was one of several stills taken during this "Heroes" filming session, though he didn't appear like this in the actual broadcast.
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