10 Amazing Later Releases By Legendary Rock Acts

For most of the '00s, it would have been a surprise to no one if David Bowie had decided to just quietly retire from music altogether. The tour for Reality had already ended with some health troubles, and the Starman had done more than enough to become one of the living legends of the time. While most of us were shellshocked by how good the Next Day ended up being, Blackstar was the kind of sendoff that we didn't even realized we'd be getting.

Written around the time that Bowie had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, these stand as some of his parting words to his fans, released just a few days before his passing in 2016. As nostalgic as an album like this can come off sometimes, Bowie was still pushing the envelope even here, taking inspiration from jazz and soul and bringing together some of the greatest sessions players in New York to provide the backdrop to his musical last will.

Although it's easy to just see this as another Bowie record, it's hard to really take the lyrics in without thinking of his oncoming death, from reflecting on his own struggles with fame on the song Lazarus to the final song I Can't Give Everything Away acknowledging that he has to take at least a few things with him to the grave that are private. Bowie had always put his art out on the world's stage, and leaving off on this note was more than any fan could have asked for.