David Bowie made his death an ‘artistic event’

Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove, who created the musical with Bowie, had been sworn to secrecy about the star’s battle with liver cancer, but admitted it was clear to see he was ill backstage as he could barely stand up.

A huge jump in sales of Bowie albums and singles has pushed the late star’s catalogue into the Official Charts.

The singer instead excoriated him, coming up with an impromptu song called “Little Fat Man”, and performing it on the spot, encouraging the whole bar to sing along with lyrics about the “fat waste of space” before him.

Johnson explains,”At first I woke up this morning and got a text from my brother, he was just like ‘Dude did you hear about David Bowie?’ I was like ‘Yeah, I did”.

Three retrospectives of his work and three original albums have all broken into the Top 40. For the fans who had no idea he was sick, the news was shocking, coming just days after Bowie issued his second record since ending a 10-year album lull in 2013.

Blackstar looks certain to hold on to the number one spot in the album charts on Friday after it was released on January 8 – Bowie’s 69th birthday.

“His death was no different from his life – a work of art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift”.

Former Roxy Music member Brian Eno, Bowie’s long-time collaborator: “Over the last few years – with him living in NY and me in London – our connection was by e-mail”.

“Not only was David a passionate supporter of my career but more importantly a very special person in my life”.

“I’m thankful he was true to his art”, he said. It is a tribute to his close friends and the people who worked with him that they managed to keep how the seriousness of his illness so secret. But as we went off the stage, he collapsed.

The 54-year-old covered his 1974 hit, Rebel Rebel, while a montage of images of Bowie flashed up on the screen behind her.

“He hates me”, she told the paper recently.

Angie Bowie, who appeared in her then-husband’s “Ziggy Stardust” film before appearing on the TV movie Wonder Woman in 1974, was rumored to be the inspiration for the Rolling Stones song “Angie”, according to an autobiography she wrote in 2000. So ahead of his time…

“David Bowie was in and out of the studio. The world will miss you”.