Livestream concert announced to mark David Bowie's 75th birthday

Virgin Radio

9 Dec 2021, 08:39

Credit: Getty

January 8th 2022 would have been David Bowie’s 75th birthday, and to celebrate the life and music of the great man, a livestream concert is taking place.

The event will feature appearances from members of Bowie’s old band, as well as the likes of Def Leppard, and Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor.

Also appearing will be Gary Oldman, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ricky Gervais. Bowie, of course, made a hilarious appearance in Gervais’ acclaimed sitcom, Extras, where he sat at the piano and performed a less than complimentary ditty about protagonist Andy in front of a busy member’s club.

The Bowie celebration will also feature appearances from Living Colour, Walk The Moon and Jake Welsley Rogers.

The backing band will be led by former Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson, and will include Bowie collaborators Earl Slick, Charlie Sexton, Alan Childs, Steve Elson, Mark Guiliana, Omar Hakim, Stan Harrison, Tim Lefebvre, Gerry Leonard, and Carmine Rojas.

“It’s an honour to be able to continue to share David Bowie’s music with the world,” Mike Garson told Rolling Stone.

He added: “I’m excited for everyone to be able to experience this very special show we’ve got in store in celebration of what would have been David’s 75th birthday with the bandmates he recorded and performed with, plus a great group of guest artists who he was such an influence to.”

According to the concert’s official website, the gig will benefit Save the Children, and there will be more line-up additions coming soon.

Meanwhile, there will be several guest singers, including Gail Ann Dorsey, Bernard Fowler, Judith Hill, Gaby Moreno, Gretchen Parlato, and Joe Sumner.

This won’t be the first time that Garson and his fellow musicians have got together onstage to celebrate the life of Bowie. A year after his death in January 2016, several members of Bowie’s Reality Tour and Garson band played a bunch of shows around the world.

Tickets to the online event on January 8th are on sale now via RollingLiveStudios.