Music

David Bowie retires from touring

by Jesse Locke

Following his polarizing 2013 comeback album The Next Day, David Bowie has made a musical resurgence. Recent projects include original music for the SpongeBob Squarepants musical, the Lazarus play based on his 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth, and a classically creepy theme song for British crime drama The Last Panthers.

However, any hope fans had of his return to the stage (including rumours of a headlining performance at next year’s Glastonbury festival leading to tickets selling out in 30 minutes) have been dashed. Bowie hasn’t performed live since 2004’s A Reality Tour, and his booking agent John Giddings has sadly confirmed that it won’t happen again (along with a comparison that’s raised some eyebrows) at a London press conference.

“David is one of the best artists I’ve ever worked with,” said Giddings. “But every time I see him now, before I even speak to him, he goes, ‘I’m not touring’ and I say, ‘I’m not asking,'” Giddings said. “He has decided to retire and, like Phil Collins, you can’t demand these people go out there again and again and again.”

For Bowie freaks that haven’t nabbed it already, his Five Years box set (the first in a series of retrospective collections celebrating his strange fascinations of 1969-1973) hit the shelves last month. Of course, that era ended with a retirement announcement as well, so it may not be his rock ‘n’ roll suicide after all.

[h/t The Guardian]