UPDATE: The Bowie tribute has been postponed for 24 hours. Here’s word from organizers: “Due to technical difficulties and COVID-19 restrictions, we must postpone the airing of A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day! for 24 hours. The stream will start on January 9 at 6 p.m. PT.”
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Today would have been David Bowie’s 74th birthday, and as is only right, a wealth of friends, collaborators, and musicians are coming together this evening (January 8) to celebrate his life and legacy with a special livestream tribute.
The wonderfully titled A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day! crashes back down to Earth tonight at 9 p.m. EST, and available to stream for 24 hours, honoring the Duke with a career-spanning set featuring a healthy dose of guest performers and alumni of Bowie’s various band lineups. The show is the brainchild of longtime Bowie bandmate and pianist Mike Garson, he of the Bowie Celebration tour, and producers Stacey Sher and Kerry Brown, in partnership with Rolling Live Studios.
As one would expect, the guest stars for the livestream are plentiful. The show will feature performances and appearances by Culture Club’s Boy George, Taylor Momsen, Ricky Gervais, the Ground Control supergroup (Dave Navarro, Corey Taylor, Taylor Hawkins, and Chris Chaney), Take That’s Gary Barlow, Duran Duran, Trent Reznor, William Corgan, YUNGBLUD, Peter Frampton, Adam Lambert, Gary Oldman, Gavin Rossdale, Joe Elliott, Perry Farrell, Macy Gray, Ian Astbury, Atticus Ross, child internet drumming sensation Nandi Bushell, Bowie’s long-time record producer and musician Tony Visconti, and others.
“I reached out to friends who had played with David, people who grew up listening to him, those he inspired and influenced,” Garson says. “Artist after artist I spoke with, each immediately understood my vision and enthusiastically said yes to taking part in this special show. That’s the magic of David’s legacy. Like many of the great and timeless songwriters before him — George Gershwin, Cole Porter — David left the world with an amazing and enduring library of music and this is the perfect time to be able to share that music in such a unique and cathartic way.”
As we reported back in October, Garson promises a career-spanning look into Bowie’s music, from his 1969 debut to 2016 swan song album Blackstar. “What we’re planning is an amazing show with the most talented musicians from every period of David’s career, as well as phenomenal artists from many different genres,” he adds. “We’ll hear different interpretations of David’s songs; some with totally new arrangements that have never been heard before.”
Tickets are on sale via rollinglivestudios.com/bowie. Check out the trailer and flyer below, which has the full lineup, for more info.
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