'Where Are We Now?' Number One, David Bowie... You're At Number One.
Few people were expecting David Bowie to release a single this week but that’s exactly what The Thin White Duke did yesterday, to a fanfare of praise and adulation, on his 66th birthday. So popular is his song ‘Where Are We Now?’ that it now looks as though Bowie could be a surprise contender for this week’s number one.
Proof that a decade of absence from the music industry needn’t be a barrier to success (at least, not when you’re David Bowie), the man we once called Ziggy Stardust has overtaken artists such as Taylor Swift and Rihanna to get to the top spot on the iTunes chart, just 24 hours after the song’s release, according to Entertainmentwise. In a response to the covert manner in which the track was released (and hell, that covert manner seems to have been a successful marketing ploy), Bowie’s people released a statement to say “Throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie. [Bowie is] the kind of artist who writes and performs what he wants when he wants.”
And this time, it’s paid off. People didn’t know they were so desperate for a new Bowie song, until it arrived. And now, of course people will be wanting more. Luckily, he’s announced plans to release a new album in March this year (2013). It will be his 30th studio album, though a decision to tour in support the new material is still under much speculation.