David Bowie: A Celebration

Culture
01 Feb 16

A dominant artistic force for five decades, David Bowie meant so many different things to so many different people. As the rock ‘n’ roll world struggles to come to terms with his death, we talk to the Irishman who served as his musical director, Gerry Leonard, and recall the Hot Press interviews with everyone from Morrissey and Nile Rodgers to Chris Hadfield and Brandon Flowers, in which his talents were celebrated.

It’s arguable as to who had the busier Christmas: Santa or the Grim Reaper. In the space of five extremely depressing days, we lost Lemmy, John Bradbury from The Specials, celebrated Northern Irish musician Mudd Wallace and Natalie Cole. Hopes of 2016 bringing a respite were cruelly dashed at 6.30am on Monday January 10, when it was announced on his website that David Bowie had died at home in New York following an 18-month battle with cancer that only the most innermost of his circle had been privy too.

He Recited ‘The Owl And The Pussycat’ To My Daughter

When did Gerry realise that that ‘something else’ was a Kendrick Lamar and Boards Of Canada-influenced record involving musicians Bowie had mostly never worked with before?