Producer recalls David Bowie's sweet reaction to a starstruck fan

David Bowie and producer Tony Visconti worked closed on a myriad of musical projects from the time they first met in the late-1960s to Bowie's death in 2016.

Beyond working with Bowie on classics like The Man Who Sold the World, Young Americans, "Heroes" and many other albums, Visconti was entrusted with producing Bowie's beautifully morose farewell, Blackstar, which was released days after his death.

Visconti knew Bowie the person perhaps as well as he knew Bowie the artist. He shared fond recollections of the former Thin White Duke during a recent conversation with Q104.3 New York's Shelli Sonstein.

"He was just an amazing artist, a genius, a sweet person, actually, he was a very kind person," Visconti said. "It's a no-brainer that he was loved by millions and millions of people."

Asked for what Bowie was like in private, Visconti explained that the singer was genuinely interested in other people and was pretty easy to talk to if you weren't starstruck by him. He recalled how Bowie handled an unexpected run-in with a huge fan.

"If you met him in the street or just under very casual circumstances and it was just you and him, he would start a conversation that was just very friendly and kind. He would ask you what you do," Visconti continued. "...People do meet him by chance and they just freeze up, they can't say a word. (Laughs) I've seen it myself.

"I saw him once, he actually put his hand on someone's arm and he said, 'I know.' (Laughs) They just froze."

You can watch the full conversation via the player above!

Elsewhere in the interview Visconti recalls the day Bowie disclosed that he was fighting cancer, the unique writing process behind the Blackstar album, and he confirms that there is more unreleased Bowie music that may yet come to light.