Amid tributes by everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Vatican, British singer/producer David Bowie, one of the most influential musicians of his era, has died of liver cancer at the age of 69. A Jan. 10 statement saying he “died peacefully, surrounded by his family” after an “18-month battle” was issued on his social media accounts.
The singer, who had been living in New York in recent years, released his latest album, “Blackstar,” on his birthday, Jan. 8. The album, which includes just seven songs, has been well received by critics and was intended as a “parting gift” to the world, according to longtime friend and producer Tony Visconti. Visconti wrote on Facebook: “His death was no different from his life – a work of art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. “I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us.”
“Blackstar” is on course to be the No. 1 selling album as of Jan. 15, according to Britain’s Official Charts Company, with combined sales of more than 43,000.
The artist’s hits include “Let’s Dance,” “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” “Starman,” “Modern Love,” “Heroes,” “Under Pressure,” “Rebel Rebel” and “Life on Mars.” He was also well known for creating his flamboyant alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust.
Sir Paul McCartney said he would “always remember the great laughs” the pair shared, saying in a statement: “David was a great star, and I treasure the moments we had together. His music played a very strong part in British musical history, and I’m proud to think of the huge influence he has had on people all around the world.”
Friend and collaborator Brian Eno said, “David’s death came as a complete surprise, as did nearly everything else about him. I feel a huge gap now.”
Eno said he received an email from Bowie a week ago, which was “as funny as always, and as surreal,” which ended with the line: “Thank you for our good times, Brian. They will never rot.” Eno added: “I realize now he was saying goodbye.”
Madonna said she was “devastated” and that Bowie had “changed her life.” She wrote on Twitter: “Talented. Unique. Genius. Game Changer. The Man Who Fell to Earth. Your Spirit Lives on Forever!”
A statement from the Rolling Stones described Bowie as an “extraordinary artist,” while Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, tweeted lyrics from the singer’s 1969 hit Space Oddity”: “Check ignition, and may God’s love be with you.”
Along with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley, Bowie defined what pop music could and should be. He brought art to the pop party, infusing his music and performances with the avant-garde ideas of pianist John Cage and artist Andy Warhol.
He turned pop in a new direction in 1972 with the introduction of Ziggy Stardust. Glam rock was the starting point, but Ziggy was much more than an eyeliner-wearing maverick: He was a truly theatrical character that at once harked to prewar European performance art while anticipating 1980s androgyny and today’s discussions around a transgender spectrum.
Bowie was born David Jones on Jan. 8, 1947, in south London, son of a waitress and a nightclub owner. He developed an early interest in music, although his attempts to succeed as a pop star during much of the 1960s were frustrated. His first hit song, “Space Oddity,” reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart after its release in July of 1969. After a three-year period of experimentation, Bowie re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era, his emergence spearheaded by the hit single “Starman” and the album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Bowie’s impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, “challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day” and “created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture.”
In the 1970s, he was restless, flitting between musical styles and personas, producing Lou Reed and The Stooges and taking up painting in Berlin. His every move sparked impersonators and inspired musical sub-genres.
In 1975, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number-one single “Fame” and the hit album “Young Americans,” which the singer characterized as “plastic soul”. The sound constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. He then confounded the expectations of his record label and his American audiences by recording the electronic-inflected album “Low,” the first of three collaborations with Eno.
Bowie followed with three UK No. 1 albums, reaching a new commercial peak in 1983 with “Let’s Dance,” which yielded several hit singles. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, last performing live at a New York charity event in 2006.
Bowie also had a successful but sporadic film career. His acting roles include the eponymous character in “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “Labyrinth,” “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “The Prestige.”
He also did a stint in “The Elephant Man” on Broadway in the 1980s.
Bowie is survived by his wife Iman, a Somali-American fashion model whom he married in 1992; daughter Alexandria Jones; and son Duncan Jones. Speaking about his relationship with Iman, Bowie once admitted he “was naming the children the first night we met.” However, for Iman, things moved a little more slowly.
“I was not ready for a relationship,” she once told a London newspaper. “Definitely, I didn’t want to get into a relationship with somebody like him. But as I always said: I fell in love with David Jones. I did not fall in love with David Bowie. Bowie is just a persona. He’s a singer, an entertainer. David Jones is a man I met.”
A retrospective of Bowie’s life, originally staged at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, is being shown at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, which was opening its door specially on Jan. 11 to allow fans to remember the star. – BBC