Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign is the first critical anthology dedicated to exploring the legacies of two pop music icons: David Bowie and Prince. Daphne A. Brooks brings together an extraordinary array of writers, artists and scholars including Greg Tate, Jack Halberstam, Kara Keeling, Eric Lott, and Ann Powers to offer fresh insight into how Bowie and Prince each fundamentally changed pop culture as two musicians who emerged at the intersections of modern movements surrounding race, gender, sexuality, and art. Featured alongside these pieces are interviews with trusted collaborators of Bowie and Prince such as D.A. Pennebaker, Sheila E., and Marie France, giving vital insider context to the impact both artists had on pop culture and the complexities of their repertoires, politics, and private lives. This work is essential reading for any fan of two of the most formidable and eminent figures in pop culture history.
Contributors: Christine Bacareza Balance, Emma Balázs, Victoria Broackes, Daphne A. Brooks, Daphne Carr, Andreana Clay, Ashon Crawley, Jonathan Flatley, Nicole R. Fleetwood, Lynell George, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Michelle Habell-Pallán, Jack Halberstam, Matthew Frye Jacobson, Kara Keeling, Jason King, Josh Kun, Kathryn Lofton, Emily Lordi, Eric Lott, Maureen Mahon, Greil Marcus, Geoffrey Marsh, Michaelangelo Matos, Tiffany Naiman, Tavia Nyong'o, Ann Powers, Sonnet Retman, Morgan Rhodes, Francesca T. Royster, Gustavus Stadler, Jacqueline Stewart, Greg Tate, Karen Tongson, Van My Truong, Alexandra T. Vazquez, Michael E. Veal, Shane Vogel, Gayle Wald, Oliver Wang, Alexander G. Weheliye, Richard Yarborough, Kristen Zschomler
Edited by:
Daphne A. Brooks
Imprint: Duke University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 445g
ISBN: 9781478033301
ISBN 10: 1478033304
Series: Refiguring American Music
Pages: 520
Publication Date: 14 April 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
General/trade
,
Undergraduate
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Introduction “Dearly Beloved,” “Give Me Your Hands”: Toward a (Rock and Roll) Commons / Daphne A. Brooks 1 “Adore”: A Map to the Chapters, Meditations, Conversations, and a Spirited Round of Karaoke / Daphne A. Brooks 35 Part I. “Punch a Higher Floor”: David Bowie, Prince, the Utopian, and the Spiritual 1. This Is What It’s Like When Starships Cry: A Cosmic Soliloquy on the Warp-Driven Vessels Christened Bowe and Prince / Greg Tate 53 2. Am I Nowhere Now? Hoping for Utopia in David Bowie’s Lazarus / Tiffany Naiman 61 Critical Karaoke Interlude I Farah Jasmine Griffin: Prince, “Nothing Compares 2 U” 74 Matthew Frye Jacobson: David Bowie, “Space Oddity” 77 3. “This Thing Called Life” (After Prince and Bowie): On Blackstars and Purple Rain / Kara Keeling 80 4. Not Quite Dying: Late Bowie / Eric Lott 92 5. “Adore,” Alternative / Ashon Crawley 101 Critical Karaoke Interlude II Gayle Wald: David Bowie, “Starman” 113 Richard Yarborough: Prince, “Housequake” (All-the-Way-Live Version) 116 Part II. “Station to Station”: Traversing Cities and Borders with Bowie and Prince 6. Heroes Across the Border / Josh Kun 123 7. Riding in Cars with Prince / Van My Truong 129 Critical Karaoke Interlude III Gustavus Stadler: Prince, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” or, Could / Be the Most Beautiful Girl in the World? 137 Daphne Carr: David Bowie, “I’m Afraid of Americans” (Nine Inch Nails V1 Mix) 140 Nicole R. Fleetwood: Prince, “Darling Nikki” 144 8. Queer Nightlife Autopoiesis: A Self-Guided Downtown Bowie Walking Tour / Shane Vogel 147 9. “There Will Be No Death”: Prince’s Afterlife in Minneapolis / Emma BalÁzs and Kristen Zshomler 160 10. From the Depot to Uncle Sam’s: Minneapolis, Clubs, Album-Oriented Rock, and Prince in the Seventies / Michaelangelo Matos 175 Critical Karaoke Interlude IV Kathryn Lofton: David Bowie, “Modern Love” 186 Sonnet Retman: Queen and David Bowie, “Under Pressure” 189 Part III. The Black Album: Bowie, Prince, and the Art of Sonic Experimentalism 11. David Bowie and the Texture of Guitar Experimentlism / Michael E. Veal 193 12. Mapping Prince’s “Erotic City” / Jason King 203 Critical Karaoke Interlude V Gayle Wald: Prince, “Pop Life” 218 Matthew Frye Jacobson: Prince, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” 221 13. His Magical Instruments: An Interview with Donny McCaslin / Maureen Mahon 224 14. New Waves, Shifting Terrains: Prince’s and David Bowie’s Transatlantic Crossovers / Alexander G. Weheliye 231 15. Young Americans: A Heat Rocks Podcast Conversations / Lynell George, Oliver Wang, and Morgan Rhodes 244 Critical Karaoke Interlude VI Christine Bacareza Balance: Prince, “Soft and Wet” 252 Andreana Clay: David Bowie, “Golden Years” 256 Part IV. “Oh! You Pretty Things”: Spectacular Bowie, Spectacular Prince-Visual and Performance Politics 16. David Bowie Is . . . A Curatorial Adventure / Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh 261 17. Like David Bowie / Jonathan Flatley 273 Critical Karaoke Interlide VII Daphne Carr: Prince and the New Power Generation, “7” 289 Emly Lordi: Prince, “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” 292 18. “He Lives . . . the Clothes”: A Conversation with Prince Costume Designer Marie France / Jacqueline Stewart 295 19. “I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This”: Prince and Black Social Dreaming / Tavia Nyong’o 316 20. “Like a Poem”: An Interview with D.A. Pennebaker on Filming David Bowie / Matthew Frye Jackson 334 Critical Karaoke Interlude VII Karen Tongson: David Bowie, “China Girl” 345 Andreana Clay: Prince, “If I Was Your Girlfriend” 348 Part V. “Rebirth of the Flesh”: Adventures in Intersectionality with Bowie and Prince 21. Trans* Bowie . . . Trans* Prince / Jack Halberstam 353 22. Prince as Revolutionary Mother: Creativity, Kinship, Collaboration, and Care, from Meshell Ndegeocello to Janelle MonÁe / Francesca T. Royster 369 Critical Karaoke Interlude IX Gustavus Stadler: David Bowie, “Girl Loves Me” 385 Kathryn Lofton: Prince, “When You Were Mine” 388 23. “I Am Something That You’ll Never Understand”: Facing the Strange with Bowie and Prince / Ann Powers 391 24. “You’ve Got to Go In”: An Interview with Sheila E. / Alexandra T. Vazquez 405 25. Blackstar, Bright Star, Not a Gangstar: Black Feminist Imaginaries Through Bowie and Prince / Daphne A. Brooks 420 Part VI. OutrÉ Outro: “Where Are We Now?” Critical Karaoke Interlude X Michelle Habell-PallÁn: David Bowie, “Let’s Dance” 459 Oliver Wang: Prince, “Kiss” 464 26. Fun Fun Fun: Having a Good Time with Prince and Duke / Greil Marcus 467 Acknowledgments 477 Sound and Vision Playlists L’Rain 479 Kimbra 481 Meshell Ndegeocello 483 Contributors 487 Index
Daphne A. Brooks is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Black Studies, American Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Music at Yale University. She is the author of Liner Notes for the Revolution and Jeff Buckley’s Grace, as well as Bodies in Dissent, published by Duke University Press.
Reviews for Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince
""Blackstar Rising and the Purple Rain offers an interdisciplinary deep dive into two iconic musicians who died within months of each other. Mixing a rich variety of formats, including critical essays, interviews, and 'critical karaoke, ' a who's who of pop writers and scholars tackle the lives and loss of these two figures. There are no books to my knowledge that offer this depth and breadth of thinking about David Bowie and Prince, or indeed about popular music in general.""--Evelyn McDonnell, editor of, Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyonce. Girl Groups to Riot Grrrl
