David Bowie Has Heart Surgery
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Musician David Bowie (search) underwent an emergency angioplasty to open a blocked heart artery in Germany and is recuperating, his spokesman said Friday.
Doctors discovered the blockage after the 57-year-old Bowie sought treatment after performing in the German town of Scheesel (search) on June 25, according to the spokesman, Julian Stockton.
A pinched nerve was initially cited as the cause of shoulder pain that forced Bowie to shorten a June 23 performance in Prague and eventually to cancel the remainder of a European tour.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Stockton did not specify the date of the procedure but said it was after the June 25 show. Bowie left the clinic in Hamburg, Germany, early this week and is now with his family in New York.
Stockton quoted Bowie as saying, "Can't wait to be fully recovered and get back to work again. I tell you what, though, I won't be writing a song about this one."
The British Bowie, who was born David Jones, gained stardom with his groundbreaking 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust," following it up with albums including "Young Americans" a few years later and "Let's Dance" in 1983, another huge seller. His latest album "Reality" was the centerpiece of his tour.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
He is married to the supermodel Iman (search).