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It will be ten years this month since David Bowie died just three days after releasing one of the most remarkable albums of his career: Blackstar. Rumors about his fragile health had been circulating for almost a decade.
Nevertheless, he had recently attended the premiere of his off-Broadway musical “Lazarus” and appeared in two music videos for “Blackstar”. Bowie’s death on January 10th at the age of 69 was hard to comprehend. It marked the start of a dark year that also saw the deaths of Prince, Leonard Cohen, Glenn Frey, George Michael, Sharon Jones and Leon Russell.
At the time of his death, Bowie had not played a full concert or given an interview in twelve years. After decades of a very public life – guest appearances on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, photo spreads with wife Iman and newborn daughter Alexandria in Hello! – he suddenly took on a new role. The man who disappeared from the earth. He was only seen fleetingly on red carpets or at film premieres, always in silence.
The sudden disappearance from the stage
But after the abrupt end of the 2003/2004 “Reality Tour,” there was a brief, strange period in which Bowie unexpectedly showed up at friends’ special events and concerts. At the time, no one suspected that this was the actual finale of his stage career. Luckily, all of these performances were filmed. Even if some fan material from the time before the iPhone leaves a lot to be desired in terms of quality. Here follows a journey through David Bowie’s seven final live performances.
Prague, T-Mobile Arena, June 23, 2004
As hard as it is to imagine today, a David Bowie tour was not a major event in the early 2000s. He hasn’t had a real hit album in 20 years. Much of his 1970s myth had faded, and he came to town as regularly as Rod Stewart or James Taylor. The world tour for his underrated album “Reality” took him to arenas, theaters and even casinos in the USA.
A tour was planned until the end of July 2004. But everything changed during an extremely hot concert in Prague. While Bowie sang the title song “Reality,” he was overcome with massive pain. Bassist Gail Ann Dorsey (translated) recalled to Rolling Stone in 2016: “He looked over his shoulder at me. He was pale, almost transparent. His shirt was soaking wet. And he just stood there, not singing.” The band continued playing some songs without him. Bowie returned, managed four more pieces, but then had to stop the concert in the middle of Changes. Little did he know that he had suffered a heart attack on stage and narrowly escaped death.
Scheeßel, Germany, Hurricane Festival, June 25, 2004
If the heart attack had been correctly diagnosed, the tour would never have continued. But since it was assumed that he had a pinched nerve, Bowie and his band traveled on to the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel two days later. With incredible willpower, Bowie played the entire set, this time wearing a sweatshirt instead of his usual stage outfit.
“I remember walking down the stairs behind him after the concert,” said Gail Ann Dorsey (translated). “When he reached the bottom, he collapsed. He was completely exhausted and seriously ill. They immediately took him to the hospital.” Only there did Bowie learn that emergency heart surgery was necessary. That evening marked the end of the tour, the end of his career as a touring musician – and a crucial turning point in his life.
New York, Radio City Music Hall, September 8, 2005
After the Hurricane Festival, Bowie completely disappeared from the public eye. It was all the more surprising when Fashion Rocks announced that he would be performing at Radio City Music Hall in September 2005 – together with Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, Destiny’s Child and Arcade Fire. First he took the stage with his long-time pianist Mike Garson (translated) and sang a reduced version of “Life on Mars?” He wore a cast on his right arm and had makeup around one eye that looked like a violet – the reason for this is still unclear.
Later in the evening, he joined Arcade Fire for rousing versions of “Wake Up” and “Five Years.” For a brief moment it seemed as if Bowie was truly back and that the health setback was just an episode.