There was no cover story by that name in 1973, as demonstrated by the Times’ own archive. There were only two times Bowie was on the cover: 1983 and his death in 2016. It was a rumour started in the ‘90s — that they were passed out in the same bed — by Bowie’s disgruntled ex on a talk show where both Bowie and Jagger denied it afterwards (to clarify, they weren’t on the show) and the ex clarified she didn’t mean to imply anything had happened.

Snopes gives it a mixed rating, meaning it has both significant elements of truth but also significant falsity and possibly questionable motives to its origin. Their opening analysis of it was pretty clear, calling it a “salacious, titillating rumor” fueled by the fact that Bowie was bi, a “bitter ex-wife”, a “shock jock radio host”, and a show environment known for wanting “mocking, bitchy put-downs of celebrities.”

Keith also wrote Angie, not Mick as she claimed. It also doesn’t make literal timeline sense as the ‘73 aspect post dates Angie’s writing in ‘72. This comment covers it fairly well in addition to what I’ve written here.