David Bowie Might Never Tour Again
David Bowie has retired from touring for good, according to promoter John Giddings.
Giddings -- who’s worked with Bowie since the ‘80s, heads the London-based Solo Agency and runs the annual Isle of Wight Festival -- broke the news while speaking at the International Festival Forum, a conference for music festival and booking professionals.
“David is one of the best artists I’ve ever worked with,” Giddings said (via Music Week). “But every time I see him now, before I even speak to him, he goes, ‘I’m not touring,’ and I say, ‘I’m not asking.’”
“He has decided to retire and, like Phil Collins, you can’t demand these people go out there again and again and again,” he added. “I’m really pleased and proud that the last show he ever did in the U.K. was the 2004 Isle of Wight Festival.”
Bowie hasn’t toured since his 2003 and 2004 Reality Tour, which coincided with his album of the same name. He was forced to cancel the remaining dates of that jaunt after undergoing an emergency angioplasty.
Bowie released his most recent album, The Next Day, in 2013. He's set to reissue his 1999 full-length, Hours..., next month.
The iconic English rocker has also penned music for a pair of upcoming musicals. He's contributed an original song to the SpongeBob Squarepants musical, which will debut in Chicago in summer 2016. He also co-wrote the score for the Off-Broadway play The Man Who Fell Off the Earth, which begins previews on Nov. 18 and will premiere on Dec. 7.