David Bowie, Klaus Nomi & Joey Arias – Saturday Night Live (1979)
On 15 December 1979, David Bowie delivered one of the most surreal and influential television performances of his career on Saturday Night Live. Appearing together with the extraordinary countertenor Klaus Nomi and performance artist Joey Arias, Bowie transformed late-night television into a piece of avant-garde underground theatre.
The performance featured Bowie in a rigid geometric tuxedo constructed from foam and plastic, flanked by Nomi and Arias in futuristic tuxedo costumes inspired by German Expressionism, Bauhaus design and Weimar-era cabaret.
What mainstream American audiences witnessed was something they had never seen before: opera-trained vocals, queer performance art, new wave aesthetics and European experimentalism, all merging into one bizarre yet historic TV moment.
Quick Facts
| Year | 1979 |
| Main Artists | David Bowie – Klaus Nomi – Joey Arias |
| Show | Saturday Night Live (NBC) |
| Performances | TVC 15 – Man Who Sold the World – Boys Keep Swinging |
| Style | New wave, performance art, opera, avant-garde |
Klaus Nomi – The Alien Voice of New Wave
Klaus Nomi was one of the most unique and otherworldly performers to ever emerge from the New York underground scene. Born in Germany, classically trained in opera, and obsessed with science-fiction, expressionist theatre and futuristic fashion, Nomi created a persona that had never existed before in popular music.
His extraordinary countertenor voice — normally heard only in baroque opera — became his defining weapon. Nomi sang impossibly high classical passages while standing on stage dressed like a robotic alien from another dimension.
Before meeting Bowie, Nomi performed in underground clubs such as the legendary Mudd Club and Max’s Kansas City, where he quickly became a cult figure. Bowie immediately recognized Nomi’s visual and vocal power and invited him to join the SNL broadcast.
The exposure changed Nomi’s life overnight. After the SNL performance, he signed with RCA Records and began an international career blending opera arias, synth-pop and new wave.
Tragically, Klaus Nomi would become one of the first world-famous artists to die from AIDS-related illness in 1983, at just 39 years old. Today, he is regarded as one of the most influential pioneers of queer performance art, avant-pop and theatrical new wave.
Joey Arias – Performer, Drag Icon & Bowie Collaborator
Joey Arias was a central figure in the late-1970s and early-1980s New York performance scene. A master of transformation, drag artistry, mime and cabaret, Arias moved seamlessly between underground clubs, theatre stages and avant-garde fashion worlds.
Arias met Klaus Nomi in the New York art scene, and the two quickly became inseparable artistic partners. While Nomi embodied the alien operatic figure, Arias contrasted him with exaggerated, hyper-stylized cabaret and burlesque-influenced movement.
Bowie was fascinated by Arias’ ability to shift identity through gesture, costume and attitude — a skill that mirrored Bowie’s own philosophy of constant reinvention.
After the SNL appearance, Arias continued performing internationally for decades, developing long-running stage shows, tribute performances and pop-culture reinterpretations, becoming a cult legend in the LGBTQ+ performance world.
The Saturday Night Live Performance
Bowie, Nomi and Arias performed three songs together:
- TVC 15
- The Man Who Sold the World
- Boys Keep Swinging
Each song featured rigid robotic movements, sculptural costumes and controlled facial expressions, transforming pop music into living art installation. The audience reaction was stunned silence followed by confusion and later, admiration.
David Bowie, Klaus Nomi & Joey Arias – TVC 15 (SNL 1979)
David Bowie, Klaus Nomi & Joey Arias – The Man Who Sold The World (SNL 1979)
David Bowie, Klaus Nomi & Joey Arias – Boys Keep Swinging (SNL 1979)
Historical Importance
The 1979 SNL performance stands today as one of the most radical examples of avant-garde expression ever broadcast on mainstream American television. Bowie used his platform not to entertain safely, but to introduce underground queer performance art to millions of viewers.
It launched Klaus Nomi’s international career, elevated Joey Arias into lasting cult fame and proved once again that Bowie functioned as a cultural gateway through which underground art could reach the world.
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