David Bowie released his 15th studio album "Let's Dance" in April 1983. It was a major commercial success, propelling Bowie to worldwide megastardom. He supported the album through the Serious Moonlight Tour, which ran from May to December 1983. Although the tour was hugely successful, Bowie later found the tour to be a mixed blessing, realising that he no longer knew his audience. Due to the stress of the Serious Moonlight tour, Bowie found himself at a creative stalemate; he would later admit that touring always left him devoid of new ideas. At the conclusion of the tour, Bowie went on holiday in Bali and Java with his friend and singer Iggy Pop. Biographer Nicholas Pegg writes that until the success of Bowie's recording of "China Girl", Pop's fortunes had been dwindling since 1979 and he was forced to tour consistently. After holidaying together, Bowie was eager to work with Pop on his next record. Although Bowie felt he was ill-prepared to record a new album, pressure from the label to release a follow-up led him into the studio in the spring of 1984 unprepared.