David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, the Spice Girls and me: Memories of a rock’n’roll publicist

Alan Edwards, the most celebrated entertainment PR man in Britain, talks to John Meagher about his career dealing with some of rock and pop’s biggest stars and his new gossipy memoir

Clockwise from top left: The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and the Spice Girls.

John Meagher

In late 2015, Alan Edwards was invited to go to see David Bowie in his adopted home of New York. They talked about everything and anything, but Bowie never mentioned that he was terminally ill. Edwards flew home to Britain. It would be the last time they saw each other. Bowie died of cancer two days after his final album, Blackstar, was released in January 2016.

For the best part of 35 years, Edwards had been Bowie’s publicist. He was there when Bowie went from critical darling and artistic chameleon to one of the world’s biggest pop stars. He was there during the comparatively lean period — the unloved Tin Machine years — and he was there every step of the way during Bowie’s late career blossoming.