Blackstar (stylised as ★)[1] is the 26th and final studio album by the English musician David Bowie. Released on 8 January 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, Jason Lindner, Tim Lefebvre and Mark Guiliana. The album contains re-recorded versions of two songs, “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)” and “‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore“, both of which were originally released in 2014. More experimental than its predecessor The Next Day (2013), the music on 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 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 of liver cancer; his illness had not been revealed to the public until then. Visconti described the album as Bowie’s intended swan song and a “parting gift” for his fans before his death. Upon release, the album was met with commercial success, topping charts in a number of countries in the wake of Bowie’s death, including the UK, and became his only album to top the US Billboard 200. It was the fifth-best-selling album of the year, worldwide, and has been certified Gold and Platinum in the US and the UK, respectively.
Critically acclaimed, Blackstar won three Grammy Awards at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017 and awarded the British Album of the Year at the 2017 Brit Awards. It was listed as one of the best albums of 2016 and later the 2010s decade by numerous publications. Outtakes from the recording sessions were released on the No Plan EP in 2017. In the years following Bowie’s death, commentators have named Blackstar one of his best works, and was included in the 2018 edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
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