Moonage Daydream: David Bowie 'didn't want Queen-type biopic of his life', says long-time collaborator

By Chris Burn
Published 4th Sep 2022, 11:45 BST

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David Bowie was opposed to the idea of a blockbuster biopic about his life, one of the late musician’s closest collaborators has said.

Speaking ahead of the release of Moonage Daydream, the first official posthumous documentary about Bowie since he died in 2016, pianist Mike Garson told the Sunday Times that the star left clear instructions about what he wanted to be allowed.

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He said Bowie’s estate, led by his longtime manager Bill Zysblat and which consults with his widow Iman and son Duncan, has already rejected the idea of a Bowie hologram show in Las Vegas.

Garson, who worked with Bowie for three decades, said: “David didn’t approve of a tribute band. The Vegas offer got shut down quickly because David would never have wanted it.

File photo dated 13/6/2004 of David Bowie who is set to be honoured with a stone on the Music Walk of Fame in London. The pioneering musician, who died in 2016, will have a stone laid in his memory on the Camden-based trail that recognises influential artists from around the world. Bowie's stone is to be laid opposite Camden Town Tube station, joining stones honouring the likes of The Who, Soul II Soul, Madness and Amy Winehouse.File photo dated 13/6/2004 of David Bowie who is set to be honoured with a stone on the Music Walk of Fame in London. The pioneering musician, who died in 2016, will have a stone laid in his memory on the Camden-based trail that recognises influential artists from around the world. Bowie's stone is to be laid opposite Camden Town Tube station, joining stones honouring the likes of The Who, Soul II Soul, Madness and Amy Winehouse.
File photo dated 13/6/2004 of David Bowie who is set to be honoured with a stone on the Music Walk of Fame in London. The pioneering musician, who died in 2016, will have a stone laid in his memory on the Camden-based trail that recognises influential artists from around the world. Bowie's stone is to be laid opposite Camden Town Tube station, joining stones honouring the likes of The Who, Soul II Soul, Madness and Amy Winehouse.

"But when I spoke to Bill a year later, he said, ‘These things may loosen up but I’m still respecting David’s wishes.’ David didn’t want a Queen-type biopic — he was very insistent to Bill. But there will be a point in, say, ten years’ time when Bill retires and maybe [the family] say, ‘Let’s do it.’ Because there is a story to be told.”

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Garson said he believes Bowie would have “really enjoyed” three-quarters of Moonage Daydream, which was made on the basis of “No dates, no biography, no facts”.

The film will be screened in Imax from September 16 and widely released in UK cinemas from September 23.

The film will look back on Bowie’s colourful life and include previously unreleased footage from his personal archives, including unseen live concert footage.

Bowie, one of the most influential and revered musicians of the 20th century, died with liver cancer on January 10 2016, two days after his 69th birthday.

Related topics:QueenLas VegasIMAX