David Bowie kept making music in his final days to "stave off boredom" says his close friend Ricky Gervais.
The music legend died on January 10, 2016, of liver cancer, just two days after his final album Blackstar was released – on his 69th birthday.
And Ricky, 60, who became friends with Bowie when he got in touch after watching The Office, has recalled how he once asked the Heroes singer what drove him to keep “creating” in his later years.
On his Absolutely Mental podcast, Ricky said: "I said to him, ‘Why do you still do this?’ And he said, ‘To stave off the boredom before death’."
Comic Ricky said he too felt "trapped" when bored and added: "It feels like I’m in a prison."
Bowie, who played himself in Ricky’s sitcom Extras in 2006, was diagnosed with cancer 18 months before he died.
His musical Lazarus debuted in New York in December 2015, and he made his final public appearance at the production's opening night.
Ricky added: "He was creating literally until the end. He was doing his play and whatever."
