Well, we're not surprised. But that doesn't make it any less disappointing.
Having not toured since 2004 and having been rarely seen in public since then, we'd suspected that David Bowie would never hit the road again, but now it's virtually official.
Speaking to industry magazine Music Week, the Isle of Wight Festival promoter John Giddings said that the 68-year-old Thin White Duke had confirmed to him personally that he would not tour again.
Giddings stated, "David is one of the best artists I’ve ever worked with. But every time I see him now, before I even speak to him, he goes, 'I’m not touring' and I say, 'I’m not asking'. He has decided to retire and, like Phil Collins, you can’t demand these people go out there again and again and again. I’m really pleased and proud that the last show he ever did in the UK was the 2004 Isle Of Wight Festival."
It was feared that Bowie had retired from music altogether until he appeared from nowhere to announce the release of The Next Day in 2013, which came fully ten years after his previous work, 2003's Reality. The ensuing tour in 2004 was cut short after he suffered chest pain while performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel, Germany - diagnosed as an acute blocked coronary artery which required surgery - and his last live performance was in 2006.
It is now believed that he wants to continue working on studio releases rather than head out and play live again, which is a shame, but if it means we get a few more albums before he heads off to the great gig in the sky, then we're not going to complain.
He recently unveiled a piece of new music - the theme song for an upcoming TV series, The Last Panthers, a six-part crime thriller co-produced by Sky and France's Canal+, about which director Johan Renck said, "I was looking for one of the icons of my youth to write the music for the title sequence, but was presented with a God. [Bowie's] first response was precise, engaged and curious."
(Image: Rex)
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