oh, are you the new butler

This has never really made sense, but I guess it doesn't have to. Apparently Crosby didn't even know who Bowie was, but wanted a young star on his show, and Bowie was enough of a Bing fan to take up the offer. Bowie showed up at the set, and refused to sing Little Drummer Boy, because he hated the song. The producers threw together an original for Bowie to sing along with, "peace on earth," in about an hour. They filmed it, Bowie hopped back on tour, and Bing died of a heart attack a month later, before the special even ran. Five years later it was released as a single, and for whatever reason became huge.