--- title: David Bowie Dead: Ricky Gervais Song from Extras description: Hours after he finished hosting the Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais received word of David Bowie's death. canonical: https://time.com/4174999/david-bowie-extras-song-about-ricky-gervais/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-11T15:48:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:28:31.545Z og:title: Watch David Bowie's Satirical Song About Ricky Gervais og:description: Called 'Little Fat Man' og:url: https://time.com/4174999/david-bowie-extras-song-about-ricky-gervais/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch David Bowie's Satirical Song About Ricky Gervais twitter:description: Called 'Little Fat Man' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch David Bowie's Satirical Song About Ricky Gervais from _Extras_ > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=47e6f643-ae4f-4177-b864-9a13bb637f1b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 11, 2016 3:48 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 11, 2016 3:48 PM UTC Hours after he finished [hosting the Golden Globes](http://time.com/4174674/golden-globes-recap-ricky-gervais/), Ricky Gervais received word of [David Bowie’s death](http://time.com/4174828/david-bowie-dead-cancer-69-blackstar/). The 69-year-old [British rockstar](http://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/) died Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer, according to a statement posted on his official social media accounts. **Read More:** [David Bowie, Legendary Rock Artist, Dead at 69](http://time.com/4174815/david-bowie-death-cancer/) Gervais tweeted about the death of his “hero” shortly after the news broke. > [](https://twitter.com/rickygervais/status/686444063869026304) Gervais, a lifelong Bowie fan, met the singer back in 2006 when he made a cameo in an episode of Gervais’s BBC comedy, _Extras_. In the scene, Gervais plays Andy Millman, an actor who’s landed a starring role on a sitcom, but isn’t entirely pleased with how his fame is turning out. He begins a conversation with Bowie but soon becomes the subject of the Starman’s latest song, a humiliating ode called “Little Fat Man.” During an interview with the [Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/ricky-gervais-on-meeting-his-idol-and-the-perfect-david-bowie-pl/) in 2006, the comedian spoke about how much Bowie meant to him.”He’s a hero, and I feel obliged to admit how important he has been to me,” Gervais said. “Apart from Mohammed Ali, there hasn’t been anyone else who has come close as an icon. I’ve been a fan for about 35 years and now a friend for a couple.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4174999/david-bowie-extras-song-about-ricky-gervais/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4174999/david-bowie-extras-song-about-ricky-gervais/"},"headline":"Watch David Bowie's Satirical Song About Ricky Gervais from Extras","datePublished":"2016-01-11T15:48:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:28:31.545Z","description":"The late singer appeared on the show in 2006","url":"https://time.com/4174999/david-bowie-extras-song-about-ricky-gervais/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Music","TV","Ricky Gervais","BBC","David Bowie","musicians"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4174999/david-bowie-extras-song-about-ricky-gervais/","name":"Watch David Bowie's Satirical Song About Ricky Gervais from Extras"}}]}] ```