David Bowie was planning to make a Ziggy Stardust comeback before he died.
Manager Tony Defries told Mojo that that Bowie was inspired to retire his alter ego when he saw that Frank Sinatra retired in 1971 only to return two years later.
Defries said, “David was a big Sinatra fan. Making the comeback is the key thing.”
But the plan didn't work. He continued: “We tried and failed to get promoters in America to book [a Bowie / Ziggy Stardust comeback tour] into large arenas as a headliner. So, that was a real reason for retiring Ziggy, to be honest with you… nothing to do with music or style or anything else.”