Today, January 8th, would have been David Bowie's 73rd Birthday, but we lost the rock icon to the heavens in 2016. However, we keep him alive through music and memories, and that's exactly what we're doing today in honor of the legend's birthday.
Even after death, Bowie is a force to be reckoned with. His face alone is a work of art, his style continues to inspire and set trends in the fashion world, and his massive catalog continues to rank high in not only pop culture, but our musical pallets.
In fact, news was unveiled today of two new Bowie releases via Parlophone Records. One is a six-track EP titled DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? and a 9-song LP CHANGESNOWBOWIE, the latter which will be out on April 18th (Record Store Day 2020).
Both albums will feature a 1996 version of "The Man Who Sold the World" which he recorded with Gail Ann Dorsey, Reeves Gabrels, and Mark Plati in November 1996, before his big 50th Birthday Concert which took place on this day in 1997 at NYC's Madison Square Garden!
Enter: today's Setlist History! 23 years ago, Bowie wanted to celebrate the big 5-0 by throwing himself a Birthday concert at MSG. It was around the time he was about to release his 20th album - Earthling.
The event was billed as "David Bowie and Friends: A Very Special Birthday Concert," which was to take place on January 9th, and celebrate his entire life / career, and it was prefaced with a broadcasted, rehearsal set on his actual birthday for a BBC Session.
The rehearsal concert featured songs like Earthling's "Dead Man Walking," and hits like "Quicksand," "Aladdin Sane," "The Man Who Sold the World," "Lady Stardust," among others.
He also did some covers like The Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat," and a rendition of a song by his former band Tin Machine, "I Can't Read." CHANGESNOWBOWIE will feature songs recorded from these rehearsals from both January 8th and January 7th.
Hear some of those songs from The BBC broadcast right here:
See the full January 8th setlist below:
The official concert that was billed with special guests took place the following night and it featured performances Frank Black of Pixies, Foo Fighters / Dave Grohl, Robert Smith of The Cure, Sonic Youth, and during the first encore, a very special performance of Lou Reed / Velvet Underground songs with the MAN HIMSELF!
To finish off the night, the second encore featured Gail Ann Dorsey singing him "Happy Birthday," followed by a performance of "All the Young Dudes" and "The Jean Genie" with Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. The 25-song set ended with an all-out performance of "Space Oddity."
Talk about the most epic concert there ever was?! The whole event was filmed and you can buy the DVD, or watch the whole thing on YouTube in HD.
See that entire setlist here:
