“The band was all together”
Following the Brit Awards 2016 ceremony at the London O2 Arena on Wednesday, The Bowie band, consisting of (in alphabetical order): Sterling Campbell (drums), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass), Mike Garson (piano), Gerry Leonard (guitar), Catherine Russell (keyboards and guitar) and Earl Slick (guitar), took to social media to express their gratitude for having been involved with the Bowie tribute.
Here they are along with Lorde’s comments. Sterling, Gerry and Slicky’s contributions are new and exclusive to this feature…
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Sterling Campbell: I would like to the thank my bandmates and Ella (Lorde) for their dedication in honoring David. I want to give my deepest respect to my Mentor Dennis Davis. He has played such a vital role in my career and I will always be in gratitude to him. To Zack Alford, with whom I grew up and shared a dream together with. To Nile Rodgers for bringing me into David’s life. To all of the Bowie Alumni especially Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, George Murray, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Woody Woodmansey, Trevor Bolder, Tony Visconti and Ken Scott. This is the Core of the Bowie sound and I am honored to have been a part of it.
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Gail Ann Dorsey: Beautiful and meaningful words spoken by Annie Lennox and Gary Oldman, two tremendous artists and dear friends of our beloved David Bowie… Performing tonight for the last time with my wonderful Bowie band mates, whom I love and respect so deeply, was one of the most difficult performances of my life… but the power of music continues to give me the strength to weather my profound sadness, the courage to navigate my darkest moments, and a reason to remain passionately and truly alive…
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Mike Garson: The experience of playing again at the Brits after eleven years with my old bandmates Sterling, Cat, Gerry, Gail and Earl was surreal. Everyone there but David. We wouldn’t have been able to perform If hadn’t had all of our full focus on that performance. We held back so many tears. To honor David with Lorde’s performance and the band’s arrangement was so gratifying. I hope it was cathartic for the whole planet. As a band, we practiced for at least 100 hours for that six minute performance. We only wanted to do justice to David. I hope we did.
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Gerry Leonard: It’s been a crazy few weeks here. We got the call to put the last touring Bowie band back together for a tribute to David at the 2016 Brit Awards. Everyone came together in London from the four corners of the earth to play and celebrate our dear friend. We were able to get Lorde to sing for us and perform “Life on Mars”, and she knocked it out of the park. It was a special thing to do with a very select group that David had distilled over the years. We hit our marks and I was so relieved to see it resonate with everyone who loved David just as we did. We miss him so much, everything has changed …
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Lorde: Such an honour getting to perform BRITs 2016 paying tribute to my hero. I was so nervous in the wings, and then I whispered to myself “just sing it to David”, and nothing else mattered. Also, performing with Bowie’s brilliant touring band – including the inimitable Mike Garson who played DB’s keys since the 70s! – was unreal.
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Catherine Russell: Thank You Brit Awards 2016 for a moving David Bowie Tribute! Honored to participate along with DB band mates.
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Earl Slick: WE THANK Lorde FOR HER BEAUTIFUL, HEART FELT PERFORMANCE. WE ALSO THANK HER FOR DOING RIGHT BY THE BOSS. HE WOULD BE, AS WE WERE, VERY TOUCHED AND HONORED TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH HER. NOT TO FORGET THE HEART FELT WORDS FROM Annie Lennox AND Gary Oldman.
Performing at The Brits, was without a doubt the most emotional experience I have ever had on a stage in my life. The one thing that rang true, is I am a pro and the show must go on. Seeing not only the band but the support and love from the friends I have not seen all that much meant the world to me. Mark Adams, Alan Edwards, Julian Stockton and Nick Belshaw who held it all together, was not only priceless, it drove home just how much the boss made sure we were taken care of by the best there is. Doing the show made it all real, as sad as it was. Speaking for myself I really needed to be there, and glad I was. I thank you all !!!
DB was a class act I will never forget ……….
Slicky
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If you didn’t catch it, you can watch the whole Bowie section here on the BRITs YouTube Channel.
Get the audio free on GooglePlayMusic.
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