David Bowie was planning another album before his death

David Bowie was planning another album before his death, and had prepared early recordings of five songs, his longtime producer has said.

Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, Tony Visconti revealed that the music icon had called him about a week before his death via Facetime, telling him he wanted to make a follow up to Blackstar.

Visconti said that Bowie had known since November that his liver cancer was terminal, but added: "I thought, and he thought, that he'd have a few months, at least."

"Obviously if he's excited about doing his next album, he must've thought he had a few more months," he said. "So the end must've been very rapid. I'm not privy to it. I don't know exactly, but he must've taken ill very quickly after that phone call."

Visconti has worked with Bowie on a number of records since 1969, recording seminal albums including Diamond Dogs, Low and Heroes.

He said he discovered Bowie had cancer when he turned up for a Blackstar recording session after chemotherapy with "no eyebrows" and "no hair on his head".

"There was no way he could keep it a secret from the band," he said.

And having noticed that some of Bowie's lyrics appeared to reference his own death, Visconti - who had known for some time about the singer's illness - said he told him: "You canny b******. You're writing a farewell album."

He said the singer simply laughed in response, adding: "His energy was still incredible for a man who had cancer. He never showed any fear. He was just all business about making the album."