With news of David Bowie's death dominating headlines, many artists posted their own thoughts and feelings on the passing of the legendary musician. Of the musical elite is Brian Eno, a longtime Bowie collaborator, who reflects on his peer and friend and says he has realized their last corrspondance was Bowie "saying goodbye."
In his extremely private bout with cancer, Mr. Bowie continued to write and record music, releasing his last album Blackstar accompanied with music videos. Not just a musician, the fashion icon had a laundry list of artists he influenced and befriended, including Mick Jagger, Trent Reznor, Cher and more.
Mr. Brian Eno penned more than just a quick Twitter eulogy, he described his last correspondence with David and how it wasn't until after that he realized "he was saying goodbye."
The transcript reads:
"David's death came as a complete surprise, as did nearly everything else about him. I feel a huge gap now.
We knew each other for over 40 years, in a friendship that was always tinged by echoes of Pete and Dud. Over the last few years - with him living in New York and me in London - our connection was by email. We signed off with invented names: some of his were mr showbiz, milton keynes, rhoda borrocks and the duke of ear.
About a year ago we started talking about Outside - the last album we worked on together. We both liked that album a lot and felt that it had fallen through the cracks. We talked about revisiting it, taking it somewhere new. I was looking forward to that.
I received an email from him seven days ago. It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: 'Thank you for our good times, brian. they will never rot'. And it was signed 'Dawn'."
Madonna, Paul McCartney, Kanye West, Iggy Pop, Kendrick Lamar, the list goes on of those influenced by Mr. Bowie's music and Brian Eno, too, felt the presence of such a massive star in his music, too.
His last album, Blackstar, is a unique endeavor for Mr. Bowie as it marked his last musical venture (one he was probably aware of in his dwindling health). The album can be viewed as a farewell to planet Earth, and he will honored with a Carnegie Hall tribute later this year in March.
Not just a musician, the entire sphere of art is diminished by the loss of David Bowie as a shining star in the unlit sky.
