Unlikely pop duos

Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue:

After a fling with Michael Hutchence saw her dubbed “SexKylie”, Minogue lost her pop innocence to fellow Aussie and goth-rock hero Cave. Brooding 1995 ballad Where the Wild Roses Grow tells how Cave’s murderous suitor smashes ingnue Kylie’s head with a rock and lays her Ophelia-like in the river, a red rose in her mouth. Rumours of a real-life liaison added an extra frisson.

David Bowie and Bing Crosby:

In 1977, what could have been more natural than the cross-dressing, drug-guzzling rock chameleon duetting with cardigan-clad crooner Crosby, 44 years his senior? They performed Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy on Bing’s Merrie Olde Christmas TV special and a month later, Crosby died of a heart attack on the golf course. Released as a festive single five years later, it reached No 3. Bowie only did it because “my mother liked him”.

Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caball:

Queen’s flamboyant frontman was a long-time fan of the Spanish soprano and they collaborated on 1987 hit Barcelona, an ode to her home town. Mercury died before it became the theme to the 1992 Olympics. Caball also performed it on the Camp Nou pitch before the 1999 Champions Leaguefinal.

Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry:

The perma-stoned gangsta rapper guested on Perry’s summer 2010 anthem California Gurls conceived as a west-coast response to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’s Empire State of Mind. Snoop seems to have the munchies for duets with pop princesses: this year, “reincarnated” as Snoop Lion, he hooked up with Miley Cyrus for Ashtrays and Heartbreaks.

Prince and Sheena Easton:

She was a Scottish diva who shot to semi-fame on BBC star search The Big Time. He was a Minnesotan pop-funk superstar. He wrote her a rude R&B single entitled Sugar Walls, which got banned by Tipper Gore. They went on to duet on his 1987 hit U Got the Look and the Batman soundtrack. Easton later became one of pop’s most minted stars thanks to shrewd Florida property deals.

Elton John and Eminem:

Marshall Mathers, aka Slim Shady, aka rap brat Eminem, retorted to allegations of homophobia by performing his hit Stan at the 2001 Grammy awards with Sir Reg of Dwight on piano, singing the Dido parts and wearing a pink spotty suit for good measure. Behold, Eminem was rehabilitated.