Coldplay mainman Chris Martin has admitted that David Bowie once turned down an invitation to duet.

The singer revealed the news in a video tribute to Bowie shown at the BBC Music Awards on Thursday (December 11).

The reason behind the decline, however, was that Martin's tune wasn't quite up to scratch.

He said: "One time I sent him a song to ask him to sing on it. He called me and said, 'It's not one of your best'.

"He's got very high standards and I appreciate that. It inspires the rest of us to keep our standards high."

Other artists who spoke about Bowie included Take That and Olly Murs.

The first BBC Music Awards were held at London's Earls Court and Coldplay were one of the performers.

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Watch David Bowie in action below: