On Friday, Depeche Mode comes roaring back with Spirit, its most urgent, politically charged album yet. But the memory of David Bowie lingers over the new music for frontman Dave Gahan, who was in the midst of writing and recording the trio's 14th effort when the icon died of cancer last year at the age of 69.
Gahan, 54, recently shared his memories of Bowie with USA TODAY and weighed in on Blackstar's Grammy wins.
Q: You've talked a lot about what a big influence Bowie has had on you throughout your career.
A: Bowie, since I was in my early teens, had an extraordinary effect on me. He represented something that was a little different and he didn’t feel comfortable going along with what was considered to be the norm. That really appealed to me and somehow comforted me, certainly as a teenager. His music has been with me throughout anything I've ever done. If you're backstage at a Depeche Mode gig, when you walk past my dressing room, you're probably going to hear a Bowie album before a show. Usually it’s something from Stage, which was a live album recorded at a concert that I was very lucky to see when I just turned 16. Me and a couple of my mates sneaked into the back of (the venue) and before we got thrown out, we saw a couple of numbers. It was mind-blowing to me at that age.
And I've seen him time and time again over the years. My daughter and his daughter went to the same school for a couple years, so I'd see him at these school functions. One thing I regret — of course when he passed away — is never telling him how much his music had meant to me all these years. I always thought it was kind of weird to do that, especially when we were at school together, just two dads with their kids, but it was shocking to me when he passed away. He was too young.
Q: Do you remember the last time you saw him?
A: Yeah. It was about a year before I heard the news that he died. I saw him at a school thing and I just got this feeling that something was wrong. I remember going back to my wife and saying, "I don’t think Bowie’s well." He just had this look in his eyes and I kind of know that look. And I had heard he was (ill) ... (but) nothing that I thought he was dying, that he wasn’t going to make it. It was very surreal that morning when I heard the news, very upsetting. I don’t think I've been that upset over someone passing away in my whole life, to be quite honest.
Q: How did you hear the news?
A: I was up making some coffee and my wife suddenly came over and said, "I just heard this news that Bowie died." And I said, "What?" I sort of stopped for a minute, thought about it, and quite honestly, I just broke down a little bit. I was so overwhelmed with emotions, I felt like a big chunk of me just dropped out of me. ... I had been playing Blackstar for a while and it suddenly all made sense, you know?
Q: It's a little bittersweet that he won his first music Grammys for Blackstar, but never lived to see it.
A: Isn’t that insane? But not really surprising as well. If you go through the list, there’s quite a few bands that haven’t actually won a Grammy.
Q: How do you feel that it took him so long to get recognized?
A: Well, I think Bowie was always a little odd, kind of like Depeche Mode. (He) didn’t quite fit into that kind of thing; didn’t play the game, didn’t go along to all the events that you’re supposed to go to if you want a Grammy. We’ve never been (like) that, either.
