Claim: David Bowie's final album was released two days before his death.

★ -LRB- pronounced and stylised as Blackstar -RRB- is the twenty-fifth and final studio album by the English musician David Bowie . It was released worldwide through ISO , RCA , Columbia , and Sony on 8 January 2016 , coinciding with Bowie 's 69th birthday . The album was largely recorded in secret between The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios in New York City with Bowie 's longtime co-producer Tony Visconti and a group of local jazz musicians .   Two days after its release , Bowie died of liver cancer ; his illness had not been revealed to the public until then . Co-producer Visconti described the album as Bowie 's intended swan song and a `` parting gift '' for his fans before his death . Upon release , the album was met with critical acclaim and commercial success , topping charts in a number of countries in the wake of Bowie 's death , and becoming Bowie 's only album to top the Billboard 200 in the United States . The album remained at the number-one position in the UK charts for three weeks .   At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards , the album won awards for Best Alternative Music Album ; Best Engineered Album , Non-Classical ; Best Recording Package , and the title single won Best Rock Performance , and Best Rock Song . The album was also awarded the British Album of the Year award at the 2017 Brit Awards , and Metacritic named it the most critically acclaimed album of the year by music publications .