David Bowie ‘was about to start experimental cancer treatment’ a month before he died

David Bowie was about to try an experimental cancer treatment and was feeling optimistic about his future in the weeks before his death, a longtime friend of the iconic singer has claimed.

Bowie passed away on Sunday after a “courageous fight” with cancer. His family has not released information on the kind of cancer he suffered with but Ivo van Hove, the director of Bowie’s musical, Lazarus, said the 69-year-old was diagnosed with liver cancer.

Robert Fox, a theatre producer and friend of the trailblazing singer said he visited Bowie a month before his death and found him feeling positive about his progress.

“He was feeling unwell but he wasn’t making a fuss about it,” Mr Fox told the Times.

He was about to start a new treatment that was quite experimental and that had had some success in other people. He felt optimistic about it being able to prolong his life, hopefully in the belief that there would be better and newer treatments that would come along.

• Robert Fox

Bowie’s haunting album Blackstar, which is also the name of a cancer lesion, is now considered by many to be his parting farewell to the world after learning his illness was terminal. Lyrics from “Lazarus”, his final release, such as, “Look up here, I’m in heaven/ I’ve got scars that can’t be seen/ I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen/ Everybody knows me now,” and the video of Bowie in a hospital bed have only supported this view. Many fans and some of his friend’s used these lyrics in their tributes.

Only a handful of people were aware of his illness, and many of those working on projects with Bowie had no idea of his diagnosis until the shock announcement of his passing was made on Sunday. Bowie fans across the world are now mourning the loss of the rock star who changed his unique personas with every album, becoming heavily influential on art, culture and making him an icon in his own right.

A publicist for Bowie told the Independent there would be no further comment.

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