Ground control to Avril Lavigne: It’s David Bowie, like doughy – not Bowie, like Howie.
That’s how the 18-year-old Canadian singer pronounced the veteran rock star’s name when the Grammy nominations were announced Tuesday.
Lavigne was helping announce the nominees for best male rock vocal performance at Madison Square Garden when she made the gaffe, pronouncing Bowie’s name like “Howie.”
When an Associated Press reporter told her afterward that she’d flubbed Bowie’s name, Lavigne said: “Oops! I knew that was going to happen, I knew I was going to pronounce someone’s name wrong.”
Lavigne – that’s pronounced luh-VEEN – received five Grammy nominations of her own, including best new artist and song of the year for her hit “Complicated.” She tied seven other artists who received a leading five Grammy nominations, including veterans Bruce Springsteen and Sheryl Crow.
Bowie, who turns 56 on Wednesday, was nominated for the song “Slow Burn.” He won a Grammy in 1984 for his long-form video, “David Bowie.”
