A decade ago this week, Blackstar became the first and last significant David Bowie album where the public (almost) instantly agreed on what it meant. Not coincidentally, it was also the first and last significant David Bowie album where Bowie was not around to poke holes in the consensus. Blackstar arrived on January 8, 2016, Bowie’s 69th birthday. And then Bowie died on January 10, felled by liver cancer, a condition he never announced publicly. The widespread feelings of surprise and shock were swiftly followed by a revisionist reading of the record, which positioned Blackstar as a musical last will and testament, “a parting shot,” in the words of coproducer and decades-long collaborator Tony Visconti. “Few albums have ever been subjected to so much exegesis so quickly,” The Guardian observed. Only the constant analysis always hit upon the same general theme: This was the Thin White Duke’s message from the great beyond. In the process, Blackstar immediately became the most famous “final” album ever. Listeners pored over the lyrics in search of Easter eggs. One theory surmised that the title references a black star lesion, a type of radial scar associated with cancer. Or it might be a nod to Black Star, the Brooklyn hip-hop duo, who once “shared a rich, frank conversation” with Bowie “about the downsides of fashion…
Published: January 9, 2026 4:21 pm
Source: The Ringer — Read original