David Bowie's cancer secret was well kept between the popular entertainer, his band and music producer Tony Visconti, the music insider said in a Mojo magazine interview reported on by
People magazine on Wednesday.
Bowie died Jan. 10 at 69 after an 18-month battle with cancer, according to a family statement, said
The Hollywood Reporter. Few people, though, knew Bowie was suffering from cancer as he released his final album "Blackstar" on Jan. 8.
Visconti, 71, a long-time friend of Bowie, told Mojo he found out about a year ago in a secret meeting, said People.
"We were already keeping the album secret, but this added an extra burden, It's been hard to live with."
Visconti told
Rolling Stone magazine earlier this month that he believed that Bowie thought he had more time because the entertainer talked about doing another album.
"And I was thrilled, and I thought, and he thought, that he'd have a few months, at least," Visconti said. "Obviously, if he's excited about doing his next album, he must've thought he had a few more months. So the end must've been very rapid. I'm not privy to it. I don't know exactly, but he must've taken ill very quickly after that phone call."
Visconti also told Rolling Stone that Bowie called him to a hush-hush meeting in January 2015 and told him about his cancer diagnosis.
"He just came fresh from a chemo session, and he had no eyebrows, and he had no hair on his head, and there was no way he could keep it a secret from the band," said Visconti.
"But he told me privately, and I really got choked up when we sat face to face talking about it. In November, (the cancer) had spread all over his body, so there's no recovering from that."
Bowie's career as an influential singer-songwriter and producer saw him involved in numerous genres, from glam rock, art rock, soul, hard rock, dance pop, punk and electronica over his career that spanned more than 40 years, wrote The Hollywood Reporter.
Related Stories: