Overview
- Blackstar was released on January 8, 2016, Bowie’s 69th birthday, and he died of liver cancer two days later in New York.
- Retrospectives describe the album as a deliberate requiem, with its mood and themes widely read as Bowie anticipating his own end.
- Coverage highlights Lazarus for its stark lyrics and imagery, with Bowie’s official account reposting Johan Renck’s comments about directing the video.
- Writers note the album’s fusion of electronic, free-jazz and avant‑garde elements shaped by collaborators Donny McCaslin and Mark Guiliana.
- Assessments place Blackstar within a career defined by constant reinvention, while recalling Bowie’s mid‑1970s excesses and his creative reset in Berlin with figures like Iggy Pop and Brian Eno.