Details of David Bowie’s final year have been revealed just days after the singer’s death, including the claim he suffered six heart attacks.

Bowie, who passed away on Monday, battled liver cancer for 18 months without the public’s knowledge.

Now, it has been revealed the singer may also have suffered from ongoing heart problems, with Bowie biographer Wendy Leigh saying cancer was just one of his ailments.

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“He didn’t just battle cancer … he had six heart attacks in recent years. I got this from somebody very close to him,” she told BBC News.

A colleague of Bowie’s has also revealed the singer secretly suffered through his final public appearance – attending the opening night of his stage show Lazarus last month. 

Belgian theatre director and co-creator of Lazarus, Ivo van Hove, told of how Bowie collapsed backstage at the performance, despite managing to appear fit and healthy to watching fans.

“Behind the podium he collapsed from exhaustion,” recalled Mr Hove.

“It was then that I realised that it may be the last time I would see him.”

Mr Hove said he had been sworn to secrecy regarding Bowie’s illness, and he suspected even the musicians who worked with the star on his latest album Black Star weren’t made aware.

“He made every effort to complete those two projects on time, not to let his illness win,” Mr Hove told The Daily Mirror.

David Bowie is survived by his wife Iman and children Duncan and Alexhandra Jones.