David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in popular music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music.
"Blackstar" is the twenty-fifth and final
studio album by the English musician
David Bowie, released worldwide through ISO,
RCA,
Columbia, and
Sony on 8 January 2016, coinciding with Bowie's 69th birthday. It was largely recorded in secret at
New York City's The Magic Shop with co-producer
Tony Visconti and a group of local
jazz musicians. Bowie died of
liver cancer two days after its release; his illness had not been revealed to the public until then. Co-producer Visconti described the album as Bowie's intended
swan song and a "parting gift" for his fans before
his death.
Bowie recorded
Blackstar while suffering from
liver cancer; his illness was not made public until he died, two days after the album's release. Like Bowie's previous album
The Next Day, recording took place in secret at the Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in
New York City. Bowie began writing and making demos for songs that appear on
Blackstar as soon as sessions for
The Next Day concluded. He recruited a local New York
jazz combo led by
Donny McCaslin as the backing band for the sessions.
Two songs that appear on
Blackstar, "
Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" and "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore", had been previously released, but were rerecorded for
Blackstar, including new saxophone parts played on the latter song by McCaslin (replacing parts Bowie played on the original release). The title of the latter derives from the title
'Tis Pity She's a Whore, a play by
John Ford, an English dramatist of the 17th century. McCaslin and the rest of the jazz group recorded their parts in the studio over a period of about one week a month from January to March 2015, and were reportedly unaware of Bowie's declining health - according to McCaslin, the band worked with Bowie "essentially from 11 to 4 every day", while bassist Tim Lefebvre stated that "it never looked to us like he was sick". The song "Lazarus" was included in Bowie's
Off-Broadway musical
of the same name.
The music on
Blackstar has been characterised as incorporating
art rock, jazz, and
experimental rock, as well as elements from
industrial rock,
folk-pop and
hip hop.According to producer
Tony Visconti, they deliberately attempted "to avoid rock’n’roll" while making the album, and he and Bowie had been listening to rapper
Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album
To Pimp a Butterfly during the recording sessions and cited it as an influence. Electronic duo
Boards of Canada and experimental hip-hop trio
Death Grips have also been cited as influences. The saxophone was the first instrument Bowie learned, and he was an avid jazz listener in his youth.
Tracklist
1. "Blackstar" (9:57)
2. "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" (4:52)
3. "Lazarus" (6:22)
4. "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"
(Bowie, Maria Schneider, Paul Bateman, Bob Bharma) (4:40)
5. "Girl Loves Me" (4:51)
6. "Dollar Days" (4:44)
7. "I Can't Give Everything Away" (5:47)
All tracks written by David Bowie, except where noted.
Personnel
- David Bowie – vocals, acoustic guitar, mixing, production, string arrangements, "Fender Guitar", harmonica
- Donny McCaslin – flute, saxophone, woodwinds
- Ben Monder – guitar
- Jason Lindner – piano, organ, keyboards
- Tim Lefebvre – bass
- Mark Guiliana – drums, percussion
- Kevin Killen – engineering
- Erin Tonkon – assistant engineer, backing vocals
- Joe Visciano – mixing assistant
- Kabir Hermon – assistant engineer
- Joe LaPorta – mastering engineer
- Tom Elmhirst – mixing engineer
- Tony Visconti – production, strings, engineering, mixing engineer
- James Murphy – percussion (4 and 5)
Notes
Released: 8 January 2016
Recorded: 2014–15 Studio The Magic Shop (New York City), Human Worldwide Studios (New York City)
Genre: Post-rock, Art rock, Experimental Rock
Length: 41:17
Label - ISO Records
