David Bowie’s last worldwide tour was in 2003 and 2004. At the time, he was interviewed by 60 Minutes, although the segment was never finished and didn’t air. After Bowie’s death on Sunday, CBS News finally released the clips.
The series of interviews were conducted while Bowie was promoting his 2003 album Reality and was touring to support the album. Bowie suffered a heart attack late during the tour and many of the final dates were cancelled. He would never tour again. In the interview though, he sounds excited to get back on stage and discusses how he was finally comfortable with considering himself a singer.
“I was never particularly fond of my voice,” Bowie said. “I thought that I wrote songs and wrote music and that was sort of what I thought I was best at doing. And because nobody else was ever doing my songs, I felt -- you know, I had to go out and do them.”
By 2003, Bowie was more comfortable on the stage in more normal attire. He said he didn’t miss the days when his shows were much more theatrical and filled with creative outfits because they were “such a nightmare to put together.”
Bowie, whose impact on pop culture as whole can never be measured, died on Sunday at age 69 after an 18-month battle with cancer. He released his last album, Blackstar, on Friday, his 69th birthday.
Here’s one of the 60 Minutes segments: