He says Bowie, who was writing Station To Station at the time, encouraged him and keyboard player Jon Lord to stay and hire new-look guitarist, the late Tommy Bolin.

He tells UCR: "He was always telling me, 'Keep f***ing changing. Never stay the same. Never. Stay. The same. Throw those leather pants away. Throw those boots away. Let me cut your f***ing hair.' He was all about forever changing, and I've always done that, really. Some people don't get it, and some people do.

Hughes continues: "When Ritchie left the band, I gotta be honest with you, I wanted to go back to Trapeze and reform the band. Bowie was in my house, and he said, 'You should go get a new guitar player who sounds way different to Ritchie, and maybe looks different.' He kind of convinced me. I think Jon and I were going to throw the towel in.