David Bowie - Blackstar

Blackstar is the twenty-eighth studio album by British singer-songwriter and musician David Bowie, originally released in January 2016 via ISO and Columbia Records.

★ (pronounced Blackstar) is David Bowie’s 28th studio album and his first since stunning the world in 2013 with the critically acclaimed The Next Day.

The release date for ★ coincided with David Bowie's 69th birthday on 8 January 2016. It was released worldwide through Bowie's ISO Records label.

Bowie died two days after its release. Co-producer Tony Visconti described the album as Bowie's intended swan song and a "parting gift" for his fans before his death.

Blackstar was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, reaching the number one spot in a number of countries in the wake of Bowie's death, and becoming Bowie's first and only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 album chart in the U.S. The album remained at the number one position in the UK charts for three weeks before being replaced by one of Bowie's compilation albums, Best of Bowie.

The album’s title track is the first single, and is accompanied by a short film visual directed by the acclaimed Johan Renck. Music from the ★ single has been featured in the opening title credits and trailers for the new TV series The Last Panthers. The series, also directed by Johan Renck, began airing across Europe in late-October and will premiere in the U.S. on SundanceTV in Spring 2016.

Bowie recorded the album in the midst of an ongoing battle with cancer. His illness was only known by those very close to him and that remained so until the news of his death became public, two days after the album's release.

It became apparent immediately after that many lyrics seem to come from a man who knows death is near. Like The Next Day, recording of this album took place in secret at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City. 

Bowie began writing and making demos for songs that appear on Blackstar as soon as sessions for The Next Day concluded. The two songs that appear on Blackstar that were previously released, “Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)” and “'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore”, were re-recorded for Blackstar, including new saxophone parts.

The song “Lazarus” was included in Bowie's Off-Broadway musical of the same name.

This album is a 2026 reissue on black vinyl housed in a matt black gatefold sleeve with glossy black lettering and a printed booklet, pressed in Germany via ISO and Parlophone Records.