David Bowie : Blackstar

Blackstar

 (stylised as ★)

 is the

 twenty-sixth

 and

 final studio album

 by the 

English musician

 David Bowie 

Released on 

 January 8th 2016, 

Bowie's 69th birthday, 

the album was

 recorded in secret

 in New York City 

with his longtime

 co-producer

 Tony Visconti

and a group of

 local jazz musicians: 

Donny McCaslin

 (saxophone),

 Jason Lindner

 (piano), 

Tim Lefebvre

 (bass)

 and 

Mark Guiliana 

(drums). 

Ben Monder

 and

 James Murphy 

contributed 

additional guitar 

and percussion,

 respectively. 

The album contains

 "Lazarus", 

from the

 2015 musical 

of the same name, 

and re-recorded

 versions of the 

2014 songs

 "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"

 and

 "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore".

More experimental

 than its predecessor 

The Next Day

 (2013), 

Blackstar

 combines atmospheric 

art rock with

 various styles of jazz.

 Bowie took 

inspiration from artists

 including 

Kendrick Lamar 

and Death Grips, 

listening to them 

during the

 album's production. 

The album's lyrics 

feature themes of death, 

with many songs 

being told from

 the perspective

 of the dead or dying. 

The cover art, 

designed by

 Jonathan Barnbrook, 

features a large black star 

with five star segments 

at the bottom

 that spell out

 the word Bowie.

The album was preceded by

 the singles 

"Blackstar"

 and

 "Lazarus", 

both of which 

were supported by 

music videos.

 Two days after its release, 

Bowie died 

following a private 

18-month battle

 with liver cancer; 

Visconti described

 the album as a

 parting gift

 for his fans 

after his death. 

Upon release,

 the album was met 

with commercial success, 

topping charts in 

many countries, 

including the

 United Kingdom, 

following 

Bowie's death,

 and became

 his only album 

to top the 

Billboard 200

 in the United States.

 It was the 

fifth-best-selling album

 of the year worldwide.

Blackstar

 received widespread acclaim 

as Bowie's most 

musically challenging album

 in decades, 

with critics praising the music,

 themes and performances

 of the backing band.

 It received three 

Grammy Awards 

and the Brit Award 

for British Album

 of the Year

 in 2017.

 It was listed as one

 of the best albums 

of 2016

 and later of the 

2010s

 decade by

 numerous publications. 

The work was

 re-analysed 

following Bowie's death, 

with critics and fans 

reinterpreting its lyrics, 

title and artwork 

as hinting at

 the artist's demise.

 Blackstar 

has since been described by

 publications and commentators 

as one of Bowie's 

best albums,

 a perfect farewell

 to his fans

 and one of the

 best final albums ever. 

Bowie's Illness

Bowie recorded

 Blackstar

while suffering

 from liver cancer. 

He had been diagnosed

 in the summer of 2014 

and was undergoing 

chemotherapy treatments 

by the time the 

sessions began

 in January 2015. 

He kept the illness private, 

only discussing it

 when it affected his work; 

 Visconti did not learn of it 

until Bowie arrived 

at the studio immediately

 following a chemo session. 

Visconti recalled

 that despite his illness, 

Bowie was in 

high spirits throughout

 the sessions:

"He was so brave and courageous ... 

and his energy was

 still incredible

 for a man who had cancer. 

He never showed any fear. 

He was just all business 

about making the album."

The artwork for

 Blackstar 

was designed by 

Jonathan Barnbrook, 

who filled the same role on 

Heathen 

(2002), 

Reality 

(2003)

 and 

The Next Day. 

The cover depicts a

 five-pointed star: 

black on white

 for the CD edition 

and all-black

 with a cut-out star 

on the vinyl release,

 which revealed the grooves

 of the record beneath. 

Barnbrook explained that due 

to the vinyl revival,

 he "wanted to give it the feeling 

that it contained something 

quite threatening". 

On the vinyl release, 

with the LP removed, 

the black paper behind

 the cut-out reveals

 a hidden picture 

of a starfield 

when the foldout sleeve

 is held up to a light source. 

It took more than

 four months 

for fans to 

discover the effect. 

Both sleeves 

feature five star segments

 below the main star 

that form the word

 Bowie

 in stylised letters. 

The cover's star image

 is credited to NASA 

in the CD booklet. 

The sleeve was the only 

Bowie sleeve 

not to feature

 an image of

 the artist himself.

Originally intended for

 release on 

 October 30th 2015,

 Blackstar 

was released on 

 January 8th 2016, 

coinciding with

 Bowie's 69th birthday,

 through his ISO label, 

Columbia Records 

and Sony Music. 

Two days later on

  January 10th

Bowie died

 of liver cancer; 

his illness 

had not been

 revealed to the public 

until then.

 Promotion and marketing 

continued following his death.

 In February

, a series of sixteen

 15-second film clips, 

titled 

Unbound: 

A Blackstar InstaMiniSeries, 

were uploaded to

 Instagram and later

 YouTube.

 The clips were intended

 to provide the creative team's 

"own visual interpretations 

of the songs, 

with no limits or 

preconditions on

 [Bowie's] part". 

A third and final single,

 "I Can't Give Everything Away",

 was released

 posthumously on 

April 6th 

accompanied by an

 animated video 

created by Barnbrook.

TRACKLIST

Blackstar

'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore

Lazarus

Sue

(Or In a Season of Crime)

Girl Loves Me

Dollar Days

I Can't Give Everything Away

Blackstar 

(Reversed)

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