David Bowie

★

First released2016

David Bowie's final studio album ★ (Blackstar) was recorded primarily at the Magic Shop studio in New York City between 2014 and 2015, with Bowie collaborating closely with producer Tony Visconti, who had worked with him on numerous previous projects. The recording process involved experimental approaches to composition and arrangement, with Bowie working alongside jazz musicians including saxophonist Donny McCaslin, whose improvisations significantly shaped the album's sound. Visconti employed unconventional studio techniques and encouraged spontaneous creative decisions, departing from some of Bowie's earlier working methods. The album was completed in secret, with only a small group of collaborators aware of the project's existence, and was released on Bowie's 69th birthday in January 2016, just two days before his death from liver cancer. The production reflects Bowie's continued artistic evolution and experimentation with jazz and electronic elements in his later years.