10 Greatest Final Albums In Rock

While no one knew it at the time, David Bowie was walking with a death sentence in the mid 2010’s. After making one of the more audacious classic rock comebacks on the Next Day, Bowie was told that his recent cancer diagnosis was going to become fatal, slowly eating away at him by the day. Bowie may have decided to see the world in his last few years, but he ended up turning to the one thing that brought him more joy than anything: music.

Although no one knew it at the time, Blackstar was Bowie taking an emotional inventory of everything that was going on surrounding his death. Being a larger than life figure in the music world, a good portion of these songs is Bowie trying to make peace with both himself and his audience. This isn’t like a rock and roll Irish wake though, with most of these songs having a lot more to say about the concept of mortality, like Bowie talking about how people will view him as an icon on the title track and becoming bigger than ever all over again on Lazarus.

Both of those songs are enough to bring a tear to your eye, but Bowie isn’t willing to go out without a fight, giving every single ounce of himself to this album while admitting that he has at least a few secrets that he’s going to have to take to the grave with him. Life would look pretty grim for anyone in a situation like this, but when you listen to Blackstar, you don’t hear a man complaining about his final days on Earth. This is Bowie bravely looking death in the face and doing everything he can to not let its darkness consume him.