NPR Music 10: 2016
2016 was shaped by the loss of David Bowie, Prince and Phife Dawg — along with so many more beloved artists — and driven forward by Beyoncé's landmark album, Lemonade.
January 8, 2016
David Bowie releases Blackstar
Try to imagine hearing the songs on this album in the days — just two of them — before we knew it would be Bowie's last. Listen to the strain in his voice during the first half of the title track; hear him squeeze out an incantation to powers that guide those few humans chosen to be watched, for a time, by all the rest of us, like some high priest of celebrity, knowing that sacrifice is imminent. Hear his breaths, heavy and purposeful, in the roiling intro of "'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore" and try not to think about how many he had left when these
