Pioneer. Androgynous. Maverick. Chic. Elegant. Starman. Ziggy Stardust. Thin White Duke. Genius. Just many of the infinite adjectives that could be attached to David Bowie. Perhaps the greatest of all time bowed to the cancer that had befallen him and passed away yesterday ( January 10th ) , leaving a legacy that will be stay in the hearts and minds of millions of mourning music fans,
Just days after releasing his 25th album Black Star , Bowie died surrounded by family. His last album , as only he knew would be , a fitting farewell. Bowie had been diagnosed with liver cancer in 2014 and according to producer Tony Visconti was still writing on his deathbed and fighting like a lion.
Bowie captivated and inspired from the moment Starman gave him his first hit during the glam rock flamboyance of the early 70's which bore out his most famous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The reinvention , stagecraft would prove to be a blueprint for many of todays artists.
The seventies , where Bowie was concerned was a decade of musical dominance and artistry unlike anything seen or heard before.
Ziggy Stardust and glam rock was replaced by the plastic soul of 19975's Young Anericans.
Bowie was the musical embodiment of a chameleon , changing musical skins and identities with ease .
Aladdin Sane (1973 ) was followed the legendary Diamond Dogs. The rest of the Seventies was rounded off by Station to Station (1975 )and the famed Berlin trilogy of Low (1977 ) Heroes (1977 ) and Lodger (1979 )
Heroes remains an indelible part of his legacy. A revered classic that is rightly scaling the charts in the wake of his death.
The Eighties saw Bowie find his way through new wave and pop with monster hits like Ashes To Ashes , Lets Dance , which spawned iconic videos that heralded the dawn of MTV,
Bowie would also play a legendary set at Live Aid in July 1985 befor ethe rest of the decade petered out with 1987's Never Let Me Down album,
The 90's saw Bowie morph to fit the current musical landscape once more. This time it was electronica , on Outisders and Earthlings.
Both yielding mixed but never dull results, Hallo Spaceboy , a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys was another chart success
As the 21st century dawned , Bowie headlined Glastonbury in June 20000 .Heathen and Reality followed back to back in 2002 and 2003, After that , it would be another decade before Bowie released another album. The longest gap between albums of his illustrious career,
In 2013 , Bowie released The Next Day to a wave of critical acclaim and as we've seen Blackstar would prove to be a haunting swansong to an incredible career.
Look up here, I'm in heaven
I've got scars that can't be seen
I've got drama, can't be stolen
Everybody knows me now
David Bowie is an artist of the kind that will never be sen again. A master of evolution and reinvention. An outsider who became the ultimate hero.
" We could be heroes. Just for one day '
Bowie has become a hero for all eternity. The Starman from Brixton is amongst the ether now , floating amongst the cosmos from whence he came.
No comments:
Post a Comment