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A chameleon visionary, Bowie straddled the worlds of
hedonistic rock, fashion and drama for five decades, pushing the
boundaries of music and his own sanity to produce some of the
most innovative songs of his generation.
"David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family
after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer," read a
statement on Bowie's Facebook page dated Sunday.
Steve Martin from Bowie's publicity company Nasty Little Man
confirmed that the Facebook report was accurate.
Londoners laid flowers at a makeshift memorial to Bowie in the
Brixton area where he was born and British Prime Minister David
Cameron hailed the singer as a genius.
"I grew up listening to and watching the pop genius David Bowie.
He was a master of re-invention who kept getting it right. A
huge loss," Cameron said.
Rock star Madonna said on Twitter: "Talented. Unique. Genius.
Game Changer. The Man who Fell to Earth. Your Spirit Lives on
Forever!"
Critics had just given the thumbs-up to his new album, "Blackstar",
released on his 69th birthday on Friday.
Born David Jones in south London two years after the end of
World War Two, he took up the saxophone at 13 before changing
his name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with the Monkees'
Davy Jones, according to Rolling Stone.
He shot to fame in Britain in 1969 with "Space Oddity", whose
lyrics he said were inspired by watching Stanley Kubrick's film
"2001: A Space Odyssey" while stoned.
Bowie's hollow lyrics summed up the loneliness of the Cold War
space race and coincided with the Apollo landing on the moon.
"Ground Control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put
your helmet on ... For here am I sitting in my tin can. Far
above the world. Planet Earth is blue. And there's nothing I can
do."
"SPACE ODDITY ZIGGY"
But it was Bowie's 1972 portrayal of a doomed bisexual rock
envoy from space, Ziggy Stardust, that propelled him to global
stardom. Bowie and Ziggy, wearing outrageous costumes, makeup
and bright orange hair, took the rock world by storm.
"Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly,"
according to the lyrics which Bowie sang with a red lightning
bolt across his face and flamboyant jumpsuits.
"Making love with his ego Ziggy sucked up into his mind. Like a
leper messiah," according the lyrics.
Bowie, ever the innovator ahead of public opinion, told the
Melody Maker newspaper in 1972 that he was gay, a step that
helped pioneer sexual openness in Britain, which had only
decriminalized homosexuality in 1967. He had married in 1970.
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He told Playboy four years later he was bisexual, but in the
eighties he told Rolling Stone magazine that the declaration was
"the biggest mistake I ever made" and that he was "always a closet
heterosexual".
This was a period which saw Bowie sporting an array of fantastic
costumes, some reportedly based on the chilling Kubrick film "A
Clockwork Orange".
Now one of the top transatlantic rock stars, Bowie continued to
innovate, helping to produce Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side",
delving into America's R&B and working with John Lennon.
Bowie reinvented himself again in the mid-seventies, adopting a soul
and funk sound, and abandoning stack heels for designer suits and
flat shoes.
He scored his first U.S. number one with "Fame" and created a new
persona, the "Thin White Duke", for his "Station to Station" album.
But the excesses of a hedonistic life was taking its toll. In a
reference to his prodigious appetite for cocaine, he said: "“I blew
my nose one day in California. “And half my brains came out.
Something had to be done."
Bowie moved from the United States to Switzerland and then to Cold
War-era Berlin to recuperate, working with Brian Eno from Roxy Music
to produce some of his least commercial and most ambitious music,
including "“Low" and “"Heroes" in 1977.
"LET'S DANCE"
In 1983 Bowie changed tack again, signing a multi-million-dollar
five-album deal with EMI. The first, “"Let's Dance", returned him to
chart success and almost paid off his advance.
"If you say run, I'll run with you. If you say hide, we'll hide.
Because my love for you. Would break my heart in two," he sang in
Let's Dance.
He starred on Broadway in "The Elephant Man" at the start of the
decade and also had roles in an array of films including "Merry
Christmas, Mr Lawrence", "The Snowman", "Absolute Beginners" and
Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ".
His love-life fascinated gossip columnists and his marriage to
stunning Somali supermodel Iman in 1992 ensured headlines.
Bowie kept a low profile after undergoing emergency heart surgery in
2004. It was not widely known that he was fighting cancer.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth
Jones)
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