Entertainment Music Yes, Ricky Gervais Tried to Be a New-Wave Singer in the '80s: See the Priceless Photos "I was a pop star for a year," Ricky Gervais tells PEOPLE's Editor-in-Chief Jess Cagle in the latest episode of The Jess Cagle Interview (streaming now on People TV) By Jess Cagle Jess Cagle Jess Cagle is the former editor-in-chief at PEOPLE. He left PEOPLE in 2019. People Editorial Guidelines and Dana Rose Falcone Dana Rose Falcone Dana Rose Falcone is a Staff Writer covering TV at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE for seven years. Dana Rose's work has previously appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Men's Fitness and Us Weekly. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 2, 2017 06:05PM EDT Before creating and starring in The Office and hosting four Golden Globes ceremonies, Ricky Gervais attempted to start a music career. He and pal Bill Macrae released two singles as new-wave duo Seona Dancing in the ’80s. Fin Costello/Redferns “We got signed on a demo tape, released two records and they failed,” Gervais, 56, tells PEOPLE’s Editor-in-Chief Jess Cagle in the latest episode of The Jess Cagle Interview (streaming now on People TV). “I was dropped. That was the end of it . . . I was a pop star for a year.” The British actor, now on his Humanity comedy tour, explains that his musical aspirations came from David Bowie. Watch the full episode of The Jess Cagle Interview with Ricky Gervaison the People TV app! Download the People TV app on your favorite device or go toPEOPLE.com/peopletv. “I saw David Bowie perform ‘Heroes’ on TV when I was about 16,” Gervais recalls. “I thought, oh wow, this is amazing. I want to do that. [So] I’d learned to play guitar.” In the end, Gervais doesn’t feel he honored his teen icon, confessing, “I ripped off David Bowie badly.” Nearly two decades after Seona Dancing disbanded, Gervais found commercial success once The Office —which he wrote, directed and starred in — debuted in 2001. Everett “The Office won a BAFTA for Best Comedy, and I won the BAFTA for Best Comedy Performer . . . and I went home and I said to Jane, ‘Why didn’t I do this earlier?’ ” he says, referring to his longtime partner Jane Fallon. “And she said, ‘Cause you wouldn’t have been any good at it.’ And I think it did take until I was 40 to have a voice and to know how to deal with all this and to do it for the right reasons. I think if I’d have done it at 21, it’d have been over in a year maybe.” RELATED VIDEO:Ricky Gervais Says He Wants to Host the Golden Globes Again – and Reveals Which Celebs Got Mad about His Zingers The workplace sitcom went on to receive two Emmy nominations, two Golden Globes — including Gervais’ Best Performance by an Actor honor — and inspire a U.S. spinoff starring Steve Carell. “So everything turned out great,” Gervais assures. Gervais can currently be heard on his new SiriusXM show “Ricky Gervais Is Deadly Sirius,” a one-hour program that airs weekly on Comedy Greats channel 94.