David Bowie. An artist if there ever was one. He wore his heart on his sleeve (that is, one of his many colorful and adorned sleeves). In 2016, the music world reeled at his passing after a long and successful career. His legacy is vibrant, his songs prolific and his artistic voice so unlike anyone else.
Humble Beginnings
After a rough start, struggling to reach an audience, Bowie finally broke through in 1969 with the commercially-successful song, Space Oddity. It also marked the beginning of a fascinating run of alternating guises, reinventing himself continually as his career progressed.
He was a glam-rock messiah in 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars; a soulless crooner in 1975’s Young Americans; and the Thin White Duke in 1976’s Station to Station. In the late Seventies, his collaboration with Brian Eno resulted in his experimental “Berlin Trilogy” of albums. In the Eighties, Bowie moved to pop with popular hits like “Modern Love” and “Let’s Dance.” He altered paths again with 2013’s The Next Day, and 2016’s jazz and hip-hop-tinged Blackstar, a masterpiece recorded in secret after he had been diagnosed with cancer. Along the way, Bowie’s also ventured into the world of film. He appeared in The Hunger (1983), Labyrinth (1986) and 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ.
A Fearless Artist
In many respects he was also an early influencer of societal norms. In 1972, in an interview with Melody Maker, he announced that he was gay. Later, however, in a 1976 Playboy interview, he clarified that he was actually bisexual. Either way, Bowie was courageous and comfortable being himself — inspiring a whole generation to do the same.
Bowie was also an avid reader, and he left behind a list of the books that transformed his life. That list was made into a book, which provides a great insight into the things that made Bowie… well, Bowie.
Bowie’s ever-changing persona and adventurous musical spirit made him one of the most influential rock stars of all time. His fearless approach to changing his image and art, as well as his open-mindedness, has forever etched his name besides music’s legends.
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