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Jan 14, 2016 David Bowie By Christopher Roberts

Even though David Bowie released his final album only two days before his death, he already had plans to record another album before his passing. When Bowie recorded Blackstar (styled as ★) he knew it could be his last record and planned it as a final artistic statement. But longtime Bowie friend and producer Tony Visconti has told Rolling Stone in a new interview that a week before his death Bowie contacted Visconti via Facetime about making another album and had hopes that he still had several months left to live.

Visconti says that Bowie had written and demoed five more new songs, even though he had known since November that his cancer was terminal. “At that late stage, he was planning the follow-up to Blackstar,” Visconti, who produced Blackstar, told Rolling Stone. “And I was thrilled and I thought, and he thought, that he’d have a few months, at least. Obviously, if he’s excited about doing his next album, he must’ve thought he had a few more months. So the end must’ve been very rapid. I’m not privy to it. I don’t know exactly, but he must’ve taken ill very quickly after that phone call.”

In the Rolling Stone interview Visconti shed more light on Bowie’s cancer battles and revealed that he first learned of his friend’s illness when they embarked on the sessions for Blackstar. “He just came fresh from a chemo session, and he had no eyebrows, and he had no hair on his head and there was no way he could keep it a secret from the band. But he told me privately, and I really got choked up when we sat face to face talking about it.”

Visconti says that Bowie was in remission by last summer and optimistic he would beat cancer, but then by November it has spread all over his body and there was no hope. Visconti realized that Bowie was making a final statement with Blackstar, telling him, “You canny bastard. You’re writing a farewell album,” to which Bowie simply laughed in response.

Visconti painted a picture of a man who was strong and defiant in the face of death. “He was so brave and courageous,” the producer/musician told Rolling Stone. “And his energy was still incredible for a man who had cancer. He never showed any fear. He was just all business about making the album.” Read the full interview here.

Who knows if those five demos will ever see the light of day, perhaps they shouldn’t considering that Blackstar is such a fitting finale.

As we previously reported, Bowie passed away late Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer. His death came as something of a shock, as his cancer diagnosis was not made public and on Friday he just released a critically praised brand new album, Blackstar (styled as ★), which was also Bowie’s 69th birthday. Below is the video for “Blackstar.”