黯星秘星 (2016)

Blackstar (stylised as ★) is the twenty-sixth 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 (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.

Background

David Bowie released his twenty-fifth studio album The Next Day in March 2013. It was his first studio release in ten years after retreating from the public view in 2004. A critical and commercial success, it topped the album charts in twenty countries, including the United Kingdom, and gave Bowie his highest chart placement ever in the United States at number two. The successes of The Next Day and the David Bowie Is exhibition, which opened in London the same year, prompted Bowie to be more active in the studio throughout 2014. Between May and July 2014, Bowie collaborated with the bandleader and composer Maria Schneider on the experimental jazz song "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)". It features Schneider's orchestra and an ensemble including the saxophonist Donny McCaslin and the drummer Mark Guiliana. The song was released as a single in November and appeared on the compilation album Nothing Has Changed (2014).

In June 2014, Bowie demoed new songs with his longtime producer Tony Visconti, the drummer Zachary Alford and the pianist Jack Spann at the Magic Shop in New York City, where The Next Day was recorded. Throughout the summer, Bowie worked on the demos alone for several months. During this time, he recorded "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" as a home demo, which appeared as the B-side of "Sue" in November. The same year, Bowie began writing a musical, Lazarus, with the Irish playwright Enda Walsh, composing new songs for it such as "No Plan", "When I Met You", "Killing a Little Time" and "The Hunger" (later titled "Lazarus").

In June, Bowie and Visconti saw McCaslin play with his jazz quartet — Guiliana, the pianist Jason Lindner and the bassist Tim Lefebvre — at the 55 Bar club in Greenwich Village, New York City. Lefebvre recalled: "When David saw us, he heard how electric and aggressive we were – more than he anticipated – which really sold us to him." Towards the end of 2014, Bowie hired the quartet as the main backing band for the upcoming album. Apart from Visconti, Blackstar was the first time since Tin Machine (1989) that Bowie used a completely new set of musicians than from his previous album. Visconti told Mojo: "If we'd used [Bowie's] former musicians they would be rock people playing jazz ... Having jazz guys play rock music turns it upside down." In December, the musicians received demos from Bowie in preparation for the recording sessions at the start of the new year.