David Bowie's last words to his close friend Gary Oldman were characteristically blunt, as the music icon told him to 'f--- off' during a Skype call days before his death from liver cancer on January 10, 2016.
Oldman, who had been a friend for years, revealed that the pair would regularly video chat on Sundays while Bowie was living in New York. During their final conversation, Bowie struggled to disconnect the call and, after saying 'Go away, go away', finally uttered the expletive before the line went dead.
The actor also shared the dark humour Bowie displayed when informing him of his cancer diagnosis via email. 'I've got some good news, I've got some bad news,' Bowie wrote. 'The bad news is I've got the big C. The good news is I got my cheekbones back.'
Oldman recalled first meeting Bowie backstage at a play, but it was years later, on a yacht near Mustique, that he truly grasped his friend's rockstar persona. As Bowie sat barefoot strumming 'Space Oddity', he looked up and said he was 'just messing about'. Oldman said that moment made him think, 'You're David Bowie'.
