David Bowie, the barrier-breaking British rock tansformative musican and multi-dimensional artist and actor, has died at the age of 69, just days after releasing a critically acclaimed album on his birthday after an 18-month battle with cancer.
A statement posted on his Facebook page and confirmed by his publicist, Steve Martin, said Bowie died peacefully, "surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer."
He is known to release a hit song, Space Oddity in 1969. In the early 1970s, David Bowie was an icon of glam rock, wearing androgynous clothing and eye makeup, with chopped, bright-red hair. He is known for creating alter egos such as Ziggy Stardust and he said that character defined him in many ways to some fans.
During his initial rise in the 1970s, he produced an astonishing range of work, from cosmic folk (Space Oddity) and glam rock (Ziggy Stardust) to blue-eyed soul (Young Americans) and electronic experiments with Brian Eno (Heroes). He followed that with the flamboyant Hunky Dory in 1972, which included Changes, a single that defined the coming decade for Bowie, reaching No. 66 on the U.S. pop chart.
Also in 1972 saw the debut of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, a concept album that fully ignited a cult following responding to its provocative rock and the glittery alien garb the band wore onstage.
In 1976, he performed his first major role as an actor, as the alien visitor in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth. Later in 1976, he released Station to Station, which included the top 10 single Golden Years. He relocated to Berlin and began working with Eno on a trilogy of albums (Low, Heroes and Lodger) that often featured brooding electronics.
After spending the 1970s as a groundbreaking rocker, his stardom hit new heights in 1983 when he appeared on the cover of Time magazine with the worldwide success of Let's Dance, a modern dance-music collection produced by Nile Rodgers, with lead guitar from Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1985, after David Bowie reached a broad mainstream audience in1983 thanks to Let's Dance, he recorded and filmed a duet with Mick Jagger on a new version of Martha and the Vandellas' Dancing in the Street, in support of Live Aid. The remainder of the 1980s were surprisingly fallow for David Bowie. He formed a band called Tin Machine in 1989 and released two albums. In the 1990s, David Bowie appeared ready to experiment outside the mainstream again and released a series of albums as diverse as those from the 1970s, including Earthling, which dabbled in new-generation electronic dance music.
In 1992, he appeared in the David Lynch prequel Twin Peaks — Fire Walk With Me. He married supermodel Iman the same year. In 2002, he reunited with Visconti to record Heathen and his songs (as performed by Seu Jorge) were part of the soundtrack to the 2004 Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.
After surgery in 2004 for a blocked artery, David Bowie seemed to disappear. His last live appearance was a performance of Changes at a charity benefit in 2006.
Then in 2013, David Bowie came out with a new album, The Next Day, which he had begun working on in 2011.
"Because of the secrecy around 'The Next Day,' it sounded like I was out of work for two years. I couldn't mention it," Tony Visconti, his longtime producer, said just before the new album was released.
By contrast, "★" was recorded at light speed, in three sessions that took place in January, February and March 2015. On Friday, his birthday, David Bowie released an album, Blackstar, that he made in collaboration with a quintet of jazz musicians. The surreal music video for one song on the album, Lazarus, is quintessential David Bowie: It features a dead astronaut, creepy figures, strange religious overtones and David Bowie singing — at first, blindfolded. According to NPR, the review for David Bowie's 'Blackstar' Is Adventurous To The End.
David Bowie's songs were anthems for generations of fans who felt alienated or different. As many of them noted on social media after news of his death, the starts look very different today. David Bowie was just 69 years old.
Wow, I was shocked. Well, come to think of it. I never heard of David Bowie though. I was born after David Bowie scored a big number of hits like Changes. So I'll check out his music one time. But still, it's sad that David Bowie died Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer confirmed to The Times by Bill Zysblat, his business manager of 34 years.
Of course, David Bowie isn't the only musician who died. Aliyah killed in a car crash in 2001 nearly 15 years ago. Then a year later, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of TLC died in 2002. Micheal Jackson died at the ago of 50 in 2009 about 7 years ago and Whitney Huston died at the age of 48 almost 4 years ago back in 2012. Blame death causes these days.
Anyway, rest in peace David Bowie.
R.I.P.
David Bowie
1947-2016
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