Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

American Songwriter JANUARY 29, 2025 - by Melanie Davis

DAVID BOWIE SENT CHILLING FINAL EMAIL TO BRIAN ENO, SEEMINGLY PROVING HIS OTHERWORLDLY CONNECTION

If ever there were a pop culture figure who seemed to come from another planet, David Bowie would certainly be on the list, a sentiment with which his long-time producer and friend, Brian Eno, would likely agree - even if doing so would mean delving into his history, one of his least favorite topics. Indeed, Bowie seemed to possess an otherworldliness that transcended our limited realm of understanding. He was Ziggy Stardust. He was an alien.

Bowie's musical, theatrical, and stylistic choices throughout his career reinforced this extraterrestrial air about him, and his final prophetic email to Eno seemed to hammer the point home. In his final years, Bowie seemed more connected to the great starry beyond than ever before.

SAYING FAREWELL TO A LONG-TIME FRIEND

The final years of David Bowie's life were more active than the previous decade. Starting in 2013, Bowie released three albums: The Next Day, Nothing Has Changed, and Blackstar. During this time, Bowie received a liver cancer diagnosis, which his estate did not disclose until after his death. The rock icon died just days after releasing his final album and swan song, Blackstar. Indeed, the secret diagnosis and Bowie's prolificity in his final years made it clear that the musician knew he was reaching the end of the road. In his final email to Brian Eno, he all but confirmed it.

Upon hearing the news of Bowie's passing, producer Eno released a statement to Rolling Stone about his friendship with the eccentric artist. "We knew each other for over forty years, in a friendship that was always tinged by echoes of Pete and Dud [a British comedy duo from the 1960s and '70s]. Over the last few years, with him living in New York and me in London, our connection was by email. We signed off with invented names: some of his were Mr. Showbiz, Milton Keynes, Rhoda Borrocks, and the Duke of Ear."

But in Bowie's last correspondence with his lifelong friend, he chose a different name altogether: Dawn.

DAVID BOWIE'S FINAL EMAIL TO BRIAN ENO WAS CHILLINGLY PROPHETIC

Producer and musician Brian Eno told Rolling Stone he received his final email from David Bowie a week before the artist died on January 10, 2016. "It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did," Eno described. "It ended with this sentence: 'Thank you for our good times, Brian. They will never rot.' It was signed, 'Dawn.' I realize now he was saying goodbye."

And indeed, that appears to be what Bowie was doing. The morbid imagery of the artist comparing the longevity of his good times with Eno to the fleeting nature of his human form adds a layer of profundity to Bowie's parting message. Seven days before his death, Bowie seemed to know where he was going. He set his course for somewhere else - the dawn, perhaps. After all, Bowie long used celestial imagery to illustrate his artistic visions. He did it in the 1970s with his extraterrestrial persona, Ziggy Stardust.

Decades later, Bowie was doing the same thing. His final album utilized the finalistic imagery of a black star. His sign-off to his long-time friend referenced the dawning of a new day, or, in his case, realm of existence. It certainly seems like Bowie's ties to the stars were stronger than usual, solidifying his place as the original starman waiting in the sky.