BRIT Awards planning star-studded Bowie tribute - report

BRIT Awards bosses are planning a star-studded tribute to David Bowie at the ceremony next month (Feb16), featuring superstars including Adele and Bono, according to a report.

The A-list supergroup will also include Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, and Coldplay, according to editors at U.K. newspaper The Sun.

Organisers have even requested that the ceremony, due to take place at London's O2 Arena on 25 February (16), is extended by 30 minutes to incorporate a lengthy tribute to the late music icon.

BRIT Awards boss Geoff Taylor revealed at the nominations on Thursday (14Jan16) that they were "working hard" to come up with a fitting tribute to Bowie, who died on 10 January (16) after an 18-month battle with cancer.

"We're working hard to try to come up with a tribute show that we think is fitting for someone who made such a unique contribution to music," said Taylor. "We're going to try to make it exciting and spectacular and interesting."

A music insider told The Sun that while it was doubtful that younger artists, such as Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, would be involved in the tribute, it will feature an array of music stars who want to give Bowie a proper send-off.

"He was a British icon and they want to provide a credible farewell which can honour that," said the source. "The organisers are putting everything into it. If they get it right, it will be epic."

Elton John and Madonna have already performed their own tributes to Bowie following his death, while a concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York has been planned for March (16), with the likes of Michael Stipe, Cat Power, and The Roots due to perform.

The news of the BRIT Awards supergroup tribute comes as Bowie's longtime collaborator revealed the music icon was working on another album in the weeks leading up to his death.

Tony Visconti told Rolling Stone magazine that Bowie, who had just released his 25th album Blackstar on 9 January (16), had demoed tracks for his 26th studio release.

"At that late stage, he was planning the follow-up to Blackstar, and I was thrilled. And I thought, and he thought, that he'd have a few months, at least," Visconti said.

"Obviously, if he's excited about doing his next album, he must've thought he had a few more months. So the end must've been very rapid."