David Bowie didn't expect Blackstar to be his final album, according to one of his collaborators on the project.
The music legend lost his battle with cancer two days after the album's release in 2016 and many fans and experts still claim Bowie's final music and videos suggest he knew the project would be his last, but musician Donny McCaslin insists the rocker didn't think the LP was a farewell.
"There is the narrative of Blackstar being this farewell, which I totally get, but that coexists with the fact that he was just so creative," Donnie tells NME.com. "He was planning on doing more."
McCaslin, who leads the New York Jazz Ensemble, also claims Bowie was even discussing a series of intimate live concerts before he passed away.
"When I went to listen to the album at his apartment in November, 2015, the idea came up of doing some small gigs... We talked about how to do a little rehearsal and soundcheck and, of course, it was going to depend on how he felt. We talked again in December around the time of the musical (Lazarus) and he said he didn’t want to. He was working on new music and he wanted to record in January."
However, Robert Fox, a producer and long-time friend of the late musician, insisted David was aware of his impending death and "knew" 'Blackstar' would be his final record: "No, he knew. I think he knew," he says. "Certainly, around Lazarus, it was very clear that there wouldn’t be anything else, barring a miracle.
"The last time I saw him was when I went to his apartment two dates after the opening of the musical. It wasn’t an overdramatic farewell, although it was pretty clear that it probably would be."
Bowie passed away in January, 2016.