Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon and Trevor Noah paid tribute to the 69-year-old music legend on TBS’ Conan, NBC’s The Tonight Show and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show Monday.
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“David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer”, an official statement said Monday.
Ivo van Hove, director of Bowie’s musical, said The Man Who Fell to Earth was “writing on his deathbed”.
One of the biggest celebrations of Bowie’s life was held in the south London area of Brixton, where the singer was born in 1947.
It has since been confirmed that the timing of the release was very intentional on Bowie’s part, with the album being his final parting gift to his fans.
The iconic singer died on Sunday following a battle with cancer, at the age of 69.
Bowie’s death will also be marked by a memorial concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall on March 31. And in the recent years after he returned with a surprise album called The Next Day in 2013, he has clearly remained secretive and meticulous about what he says and does.
The late David Bowie spent the last months of his life dedicated to the works of art he would leave behind, including Blackstar, his off Broadway stage production Lazarus, and two music videos aptly titled “Blackstar” and “Lazarus”.
“We both started in theatrical Rock N Roll at the same time, and in some cases we challenged each other to go farther and push the envelope”. Van Hove said he was one of the few people Bowie told about the condition, because it would prevent the musician from attending all of the Lazarus rehearsals.
“The cast didn’t know all that time, and I suspect that the musicians with whom he recorded “Blackstar” didn’t know either”.
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Highlighting how secret Bowie kept his illness, long-time collaborator and friend Brian Eno said his death came as “a complete surprise”.
