Toy (David Bowie album)

Toy is a studio album by English musician David Bowie, released after his death in November 2021. The recordings took place between July and October 2000 in New York City, consisting of new versions of songs Bowie had originally cut from 1964 to 1971, plus a few original compositions. Bowie co-produced the project with Mark Plati, and the musicians were drawn from Bowie’s touring band at the time: Plati, Earl Slick, Gail Ann Dorsey, Mike Garson, and Sterling Campbell. Additional overdubs came from Lisa Germano, Gerry Leonard, and Cuong Vu.

Bowie’s plan was to rehearse the tracks, record them live, and get the album out quickly—an approach that anticipated the concept of a surprise release. He aimed for a March 2001 launch, but EMI/Virgin shelved the project. This led Bowie to leave the label and start work on his next album, Heathen (2002). Over the years, various Toy tracks appeared as B-sides and bonus material; two were reworked for Heathen, and two more turned up on the 2014 compilation Nothing Has Changed.

Different mixes of the Toy songs leaked online in 2011, drawing media attention. A decade later, in September 2021, Warner Music Group announced that Toy would receive an official release as part of the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) on 26 November, through Bowie’s own ISO label and Parlophone. A separate deluxe edition—featuring previously unseen photographs, alternate mixes, proposed B-sides, and 13 new remixes—came out on 7 January 2022. Critics gave the official release positive reviews, often praising Bowie’s vocal performances. Commercially, it debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Bowie’s 35th top‑10 album in the country.

Recording and production

In 1999, during the Hours Tour, Bowie began performing songs he had originally recorded in the 1960s. After finishing his Mini Tour with a Glastonbury Festival set in June 2000, he said, “I hate to waste the energy of a show‑honed band so I’ve asked one and all if they would like to make an album immediately when we get back to New York.” He then revealed his intention to re‑record these older songs, describing it as “Not so much Pin Ups II as an Up Date I.” Work on what he called the “Sixties album” began a month later in July under the working title Toy, taken from a lyric in two of the songs.