David Bowie's close friend and colleague Robert Fox has opened up about the music star's bravery in his final weeks.  Robert produced the musical Lazarus alongside Bowie's direction, and the pair were very close right up to David's death following a private battle with cancer. Speaking to The Telegraph, Fox opened up about David's decision to keep his illness private: "Nobody knew.. Nobody even suggested there was anything. And then we woke up on Monday morning and it was on the news. I think that’s the way he wanted it to be." "He wanted the minimum of fuss. He was just a private man. And I think he wanted to protect his family from the insanity there would have been. It would have impinged on the album, Lazarus, his family, everyone would have been inundated at a time when he didn't need that or want that. And he did it perfectly." He added: "It was odd watching Lazarus, the musical, for the first time on stage, knowing that David wasn't well, and seeing the show in that light, and knowing that the 200 other people in the audience, who did not know that, were seeing it in a different light. It’s much clearer now with the loss of David because it’s about this poor man who doesn't want to die, who wants to go back to his planet and find some resolution." Bowie's final album Blackstar was released just days before he passed away, and many look on it as his parting gift. Speaking about filming the video for his single from the album, also called Lazarus, Robert continued: "I thought, 'what the..! He’s about to be 69, he’s really unwell; what’s he doing putting himself through this?'. But that’s what he did." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JqH1M4Ya8 Video via YouTube/DavidBowieVEVO