Janelle Monáe and Lucy Dacus recently sat down together for Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians series. During their conversation, Monáe mentioned something unusual that had Dacus taken aback. While die-hard fans of legendary artists quite often wish they had this superpower, Monáe claims they traveled back in time to see David Bowie in the ’70s.
Janelle Monáe says she time-traveled to see David Bowie perform in the 1970s
During their conversation with singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus, Janelle Monáe mentioned how they traveled back to the ’70s to see David Bowie perform live. “I think when I saw David Bowie…” Monáe said before a clearly shocked Dacus interrupted them, asking, “You saw him?”
Monáe replied, confirming, “I did. I traveled back into the 1970s, and I saw him do Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. It was incredible.” Dacus, now with a subtle smile, asked, “You traveled back?’
The ten-time Grammy nominee replied, “Yeah, I was backstage and I was like, this is what I want to do. So I jetted back to the 2000s and I was like, I can have the musical, make the music, create the lyrics, and create community around transformation and being queer, and not even just in sexuality, but in how we see the world.”
This topic of conversation began when Monáe explained how they plan their costumes for Halloween two years in advance. They mentioned how they love transformation and world-building through music. And while Dacus did seem a little surprised by Monáe’s time-travel claims in the beginning, she seems to have soon interpreted it her own way.
Further, when Monáe remarks, “I don’t know who I will be in 2027, and I’m okay with that,” Dacus jokingly mentions, “Except for Halloween.” There was no further mention of time travel in their conversation, so we’ll never know whether Monáe really traveled back to the ’70s.
