In December 1980 David Bowie was in New York to present the play The Elephant Man. On the 8th of December, despite the sold-out shows, there were three empty places in the audience. Two of them belonged to Yoko Ono and John Lennon, who had been shot earlier that day. The third place was for Mark Chapman, Lennon’s killer. Bowie was later told by the police that he was the second person on Chapman’s list.
Coco Schwab who was there when Bowie got the news of Lennon’s death, remembers him shouting: “WHAT THE HELL, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH THIS WORLD!” repeatedly, numb from devastation and anger. Bowie later commented: “It was awful, just awful. A whole piece of my life seemed to have been taken away; a whole reason for being a singer and songwriter seemed to be removed from me. It was almost like a warning.”
