David Bowie reportedly had liver cancer, which he kept private for about 18 months before his death in January 2016.

Type of cancer

  • Multiple reputable outlets and later retrospectives state that Bowie was diagnosed with liver cancer, even though neither he nor his family ever issued a formal, detailed medical statement.
  • A theater director who worked closely with him on the musical Lazarus , Ivo van Hove, said Bowie told him specifically that he had liver cancer, which is why most biographies and news pieces now describe it that way.

How public this was

  • During his life, Bowie never publicly confirmed the exact cancer type, choosing to keep his illness largely secret while continuing to work on Blackstar and Lazarus.
  • After his death, news coverage and later medical-awareness pieces used his case to highlight liver cancer and its often-late diagnosis, but they also note that many clinical details were never shared.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.