PRESS RELEASE
ROLLING STONES WINGMAN JOINS ALUMNI TOUR TO NZ
4 MAY – AUCKLAND | 5 MAY - CHRISTCHURCH
While Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger recovers from heart valve surgery, his wingman Bernard Fowler has decided to perform in New Zealand with David Bowie’s band.
Bernard was originally slated to join The Stones on their No Filter tour this month but due to Mick’s health issues, the tour was postponed, meaning Bernard could join the A Bowie Celebration: The David Bowie Alumni Tour.
The tour, headed by Bowie’s musical director and longest serving band member Mike Garson, will include some of the best
musicians in the world, including Gerry Leonard, Carmine Rojas, Mark Plati, drummer John Lee and now, Bernard Fowler. It is timed to mark 50 years since the release of Space Oddity.
This extraordinary group of musicians will perform in Auckland on 4 May at the ASB Aotea Theatre and Christchurch 5 May
at the Town Hall.
Bernard is a versatile, mesmerizing performer, whose range and stage presence are celebrated around the world. His
dynamic vocals have appeared on hundreds of albums for bands as diverse as The Rolling Stones, Herbie Hancock, Ryuichi
Sakamoto, John Mayer, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Duran Duran, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Hutchence, Michael Buble,
Philip Glass, Yoko Ono, Alice Cooper and Bootsy Collins, and many more.
Bernard is most widely known by millions of people around the world as the background singer and percussionist for The
Rolling Stones, a position he has held for 28 years and counting. He has recorded and toured with “the world’s greatest
rock n’ roll band” to nearly every continent, appearing on 14 Rolling Stones albums. He has also appeared on the solo
projects of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, fronted two jazz albums with Charlie Watts, and produced, wrote and performed
on two albums for Ronnie Wood, Nickelbag, the IMF’s and Bernard Fowler & Band.
A Bowie Celebration also features unforgettable and critically-acclaimed vocalists, such as legendary rock group Living Colour’s Corey Glover and crowd favourite, Joe Sumner (he is Sting’s son in all ways) Grammy Award winning artist Gaby Moreno along with some special guests to be announced. With a mix of
top hits and deep cuts, it’s Bowie friends, playing Bowie music, in true Bowie style. www.abowiecelebration.com
The Bowie alumni band members were friends of David’s, worked and performed with him on more than two dozen albums
spanning from Aladdin Sane to The Next Day and world tours beginning with the Ziggy Stardust tour in 1972 through
David’s final Reality tour in 2003.
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“The concert was mind-blowing, almost a religious experience—a 34-song tour de force that delivered, yes, a trove of
Bowie hits, but also a few mind-blowing renditions of lesser-known tracks,”
– Vogue
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Garson says of A Bowie Celebration, ”In all the years I played and toured with David, I was asked to play with many dozens of Bowie tribute bands but
turned each down because I was able to play with the real deal.
“Since David has passed, while it now takes a village of world-class vocalists to celebrate David’s songs with us on
tour, the band that’s playing those songs with me are the actual players who played with David.
“That’s the main difference between us and other tribute bands out there and this is the only Bowie tour we’ll be
touring with. In addition to the live music played by alumni members of David’s bands, A Bowie Celebration is proud to incorporate subtle string tracks to our performances to help recreate the tracks they honor - just as David
did on his tours with me for many years.”
“It’s not a cover band. It’s the actual band. It’s as close as
you’re going to get to Bowie.”
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
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Garson and the alumni band are bringing this tour to David’s fans at their thundering request to continue the
celebration on order to keep David’s memory and musical legacy alive and to share it with his original fans and the
younger generations alike.
A BOWIE CELEBRATION TOUR
May 4 Auckland, ASB Theatre
May 5 Christchurch, Auditorium, Town Hall
For more information on A BOWIE CELEBRATION, visit:
Website: http://www.ABowieCelebration.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/ABowieCelebration
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bowietour
Instagram:https://instagram.com/bowietour