Two decades ago, fans witnessed the last of David Bowie's own shows. On June 25th, 2004, Bowie was performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheessel, Germany when he experienced chest pain. Initially dismissing it as a pinched nerve in his shoulder, it was later revealed to be an acutely blocked coronary artery. This medical emergency led to an immediate angioplasty in Hamburg and resulted in the cancellation of the remaining 14 dates of his tour. Bowie never returned to do his own show again.
In the years that followed, Bowie made a few one-off performances. He joined Arcade Fire twice in 2005 and performed with David Gilmour at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2006. Despite these appearances, Bowie's days of headlining his own shows ended.
Bowie's journey as a performer was a complex one. He once shared, "It feels to me often that I'm becoming a performer finally. I was never comfortable as a performer... But the irony is, I think, as I got less and less theatrical through the '90s, I'm now feeling very comfortable as an artist on stage, merely as an interpreter of songs."
Bowie passed away from liver cancer on January 10th, 2016, at the age of 69.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]