Happy 60th birthday David Bowie
David Bowie turns 60 years old today (January 8th). Bowie has laid relatively low in recent years, ever since he had a heart attack while on his A Reality world tour in 2004, but he has popped up for appearances here and there, including two last year -- the Keep A Child Alive Annual Black Ball benefit in New York City to raise money for AIDS treatments worldwide, and with David Gilmour at the Royal Albert Hall in London to sing the early Pink Floyd single "Arnold Layne," which has been released commercially by Gilmour.
Next up for Bowie is the first-ever High Line Festival in New York City in May, which he co-founded, and which he'll curate and perform at. He's also said to be working on material for a new album, but there's been no word on how far along he is with the process.
One thing the new album won't be is a covers project. Bowie told us that it's discussed all the time, but that he just can't imagine doing what he did on his 1973 album Pin Ups: "(Producer) Tony Visconti and I have often thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to do this song, or that song -- or we could do a Pin Ups 2.' Blah-blah-blah. But there again, I keep writing, so that kind of rules out doing another covers album."
The eccentric performer also told us that he has no interest in following what the record company does in terms of reissuing his older material: "I gotta say, I've got blinkers on for all that. I just try so hard to stay in the moment. It's quite easy to do -- I'm quite good at ignoring things."
If Bowie returns to a regular performing schedule, he told us that he'll have to gut it out on a few numbers: "I wish I wasn't so wordy on some songs (laughs). I just don't retain the lyrics, either -- you know, I can come off the road and it'll be, like, two weeks later, and I can't remember a word."
He also told us that, like a lot of performers, he sometimes has trouble remembering the lyrics to all his songs, but he'll never use a teleprompter: "It doesn't feel right. I take a music stand out with me, and it's almost like a superstition now, 'cause if I don't have the music stand out there and the book of my lyrics on it, I fear that I won't remember them. But if I've got the book there, I don't often have to refer to it. It's a peculiar thing."
Bowie threw himself a party and concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City 10 years ago, to mark his 50th birthday. The event featured Lou Reed, Robert Smith of the Cure, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies leader Frank Black, and members of Foo Fighters and Sonic Youth. Before the show started, Bowie credited some of his guests with keeping him fresh: "People like Sonic Youth and Frank Black were major influences on me in the '80s, when I was singing and working on stuff that, really, I was indifferent to. What I was actually doing was going home and listening to the Pixies and Sonic Youth, but that's how life is. But I got wise -- I wised up -- and now I just do what I want to do."
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Next up for Bowie is the first-ever High Line Festival in New York City in May, which he co-founded, and which he'll curate and perform at. He's also said to be working on material for a new album, but there's been no word on how far along he is with the process.
One thing the new album won't be is a covers project. Bowie told us that it's discussed all the time, but that he just can't imagine doing what he did on his 1973 album Pin Ups: "(Producer) Tony Visconti and I have often thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to do this song, or that song -- or we could do a Pin Ups 2.' Blah-blah-blah. But there again, I keep writing, so that kind of rules out doing another covers album."
The eccentric performer also told us that he has no interest in following what the record company does in terms of reissuing his older material: "I gotta say, I've got blinkers on for all that. I just try so hard to stay in the moment. It's quite easy to do -- I'm quite good at ignoring things."
If Bowie returns to a regular performing schedule, he told us that he'll have to gut it out on a few numbers: "I wish I wasn't so wordy on some songs (laughs). I just don't retain the lyrics, either -- you know, I can come off the road and it'll be, like, two weeks later, and I can't remember a word."
He also told us that, like a lot of performers, he sometimes has trouble remembering the lyrics to all his songs, but he'll never use a teleprompter: "It doesn't feel right. I take a music stand out with me, and it's almost like a superstition now, 'cause if I don't have the music stand out there and the book of my lyrics on it, I fear that I won't remember them. But if I've got the book there, I don't often have to refer to it. It's a peculiar thing."
Bowie threw himself a party and concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City 10 years ago, to mark his 50th birthday. The event featured Lou Reed, Robert Smith of the Cure, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies leader Frank Black, and members of Foo Fighters and Sonic Youth. Before the show started, Bowie credited some of his guests with keeping him fresh: "People like Sonic Youth and Frank Black were major influences on me in the '80s, when I was singing and working on stuff that, really, I was indifferent to. What I was actually doing was going home and listening to the Pixies and Sonic Youth, but that's how life is. But I got wise -- I wised up -- and now I just do what I want to do."
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