David Bowie’s key collaborators, friends and fellow recording artists will perform at a series of benefit shows next year to honour what would have been the musician’s 70th birthday.
Taking place on 8 January 2017, the gigs will be hosted in locations around the world that have a strong connection with the artist and his music. Featuring a set of 30 core musicians as well as 40 local artists, the shows are predicted to “create a sound like no other”, according to a spokesperson.
The idea for the birthday gigs was inspired by the series of tributes which took place in the wake of Bowie’s death – most notably the two shows in spring this year, in which more than 70 artists and musicians in Los Angeles and San Francisco celebrated his career. The cast of those shows included Gary Oldman, Seal, Ewan McGregor, Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, and Bowie band alumni from Space Oddity to the latest Blackstar album.
Titled Celebrating David Bowie, the London strand of the event will happen in Brixton, Bowie’s birthplace, at the O2 Academy. Led by Oldman, who delivered a speech about his late friend at the Brit awards, the show is to feature former Bowie band members Mike Garson, Earl Slick, Adrian Belew, Sterling Campbell,Holly Palmer and Catherine Russell, along with ensembles from Los Angeles and New York and many other special guests yet to be announced.
Proceeds from the London show will go to the Children & the Arts charity. More details about the other shows will be announced “sporadically” in the run-up to the events.
