If there’s one thing you’ll learn pretty quickly at Burning Man, it’s that you shouldn’t believe everything you hear out on the Playa. Every year rumors abound that Daft Punk is playing a secret set somewhere, and countless rubes have been sent out to the perimeter fence trying to catch one of their vaporous performances. But there’s another crazy rumor that was floating around the Black Rock Desert all week that might actually be true. Via Burn.Life’s Matt Mihaly:
For the last few days I’ve been sitting on some news that I didn’t want to post without consent from my sources. I’ve just gotten that permission, and the news via a trusted associates in a position to know is that some of David Bowie’s ashes were in the Temple at Burning Man this year! Reportedly, his daughter Lexi brought them.
In addition to the gigantic Burning Man at the center of Black Rock City, there’s also a massive multi-level Temple built every year. And just like the man, the Temple also gets burnt on the last day of the event. Over the years, the Temple has become a place for Burners to honor the memory of deceased loved ones. Thousands of names are written and carved into the walls. Mementos and keepsakes are left on shrines. Some leave ashes.
If what Burn.Life reported is true, then David Bowie’s daughter Lexi was one of those leaving a piece of her father behind in the Temple. Bowie would hardly be the first famous person whose remains ended up at Burning Man. Last year Susan Sarandon brought some ashes belonging to godfather of LSD Timothy Leary, and what didn’t get placed in the Temple ended up being drank by Sarandon and her friends.
Don’t feel too grossed out … it probably wasn’t a lot of ashes. Leary’s will was very specific that the vast majority of his remains were to be shot into space. I’m sure David Bowie would appreciate that sentiment, and the sentiment of his daughter as she said goodbye to him in her own way at the Temple.
*UPDATE* Our friends from Burn.Life got in touch to let us know that while some of Bowie’s ashes did indeed end up in the Temple, it wasn’t his daughter but another family member that wishes to remain anonymous who placed them there.
Here’s some footage from the Burning Man 2016 set to David Bowie’s music, put together by the Burn.Life people that passed on Lexi’s story.
