Duncan Jones is clearly a Lorde fan — just like his famous father was. The 44-year-old son of David Bowie took to Twitter to give his seal of approval to the art pop singer after her poignant tribute to his father at the Brit Awards. In his tweet, Jones thanked Lorde and wrote that the David Bowie tribute was “beautiful.”
Finally found the links to tonight’s Brits. Just… beautiful. Thank you.
— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) February 25, 2016
Lorde performed Bowie’s classic song “Life on Mars” at the awards show after the late rock icon was awarded a posthumous Brit Icon Award. The tribute featured members of the late musician’s 2003 backing band from his “A Reality Tour.” The band played a medley of Bowie’s music as photos of the rock legend flashed on a large screen behind them before the 19-year-old “Royals” singer joined them on the stage.
While Duncan Jones was obviously moved by Lorde’s performance, it’s not all that surprising. His father had once described the teen singer as “the future of music.”
But while he loved Lorde’s Brit Awards tribute, Duncan’s reaction to Lady Gaga’s tribute to his dad at the Grammy Awards was markedly different. Following Gaga’s effects laden performance of a medley of 10 David Bowie hits at the 58th Grammys earlier this month, Jones posted a seemingly snarky reaction on Twitter by quoting the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word “gaga.”
“overexcited or irrational, typically as a result of infatuation or excessive enthusiasm; mentally confused.” Damn it! What IS that word!?
— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) February 16, 2016
The timing of Duncan Jones’ sarcastic post — which pointed out that the word “gaga” means “overexcited or irrational, typically as a result of infatuation or excessive enthusiasm; mentally confused” — had some people angry at him for throwing shade at Gaga’s Grammys performance. Other fans agreed with Duncan that the glitzy spectacle filled with special effects was in poor taste.
Both Lady Gaga and Lorde have been vocal about their admiration for David Bowie. Lorde even went on record as saying the father of Duncan Jones was her hero. In a lengthy Facebook post shortly after his death, the singer revealed that when she met Bowie two years ago, it was life changing.
“I’ve never met a hero of mine and liked it. It just sucks, the pressure is too huge, you can’t enjoy it. David was different. I’ll never forget the caressing of our hands as we spoke, or the light in his eyes. That night something changed in me – i felt a calmness grow, a sureness. I think in those brief moments, he heralded me into my next new life, an old rock and roll alien angel in a perfect grey suit. I realized everything I’d ever done, or would do from then on, would be done like maybe he was watching. I realized I was proud of my spiky strangeness because he had been proud of his.”
Duncan Jones had a very close relationship with his father, so it’s not surprising that the film director is very protective of his memory. Last month, Jones took to social media to confirm the sad news that his father died of cancer at age 69 by posting a throwback black and white picture of the two of them from when he was a child. And in a 2011 interview with the Daily Mail , Jones said he was had a tight-knit bond with his dad and that he would Skype with his dad almost constantly. Jones also described his childhood as “incredible,” revealing that although his dad was a world famous rock star, he always “gave me the time and the support to find my feet and the confidence to do what I do.”
Watch the entire Brit Awards tribute that Duncan Jones praised in the video below.
[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]