David Bowie, whose incomparable sound and chameleon-like chance to reinvent himself made him a pop music fixture for longer than four decades, has died. He was 69.
Bowie died Sunday after an 18-month grapple with cancer, his publicist Steve Martin told CNN.
“David Bowie died peacefully today encompassed by his family after having a courageous 18 month grapple with cancer. While many person will be part of this loss, we ask you respect the family’s privacy throughout their time of grief,” said an announcement posted on his official web 2 . 0 accounts.
Neither his publicist nor the statement elaborated on the kind of cancer the singer was fighting.
Bowie’s death has become the regular subject of internet hoaxes for the past several years. So the news came as being a shock to fans and industry insiders gets hotter was confirmed.
“Very sorry and however it’s true. I’ll be offline for some time. Love to all,” his son, Duncan Jones, tweeted.
From a mop-topped unknown singer called David Jones, to his space alien alter ego “Ziggy Stardust,” to his dapper departure as being the Thin White Duke, Bowie married music and fashion you might say few artists are already able to master.
He was theatrical, he was flamboyant, he was without parallel within his showmanship.
With a voice that soared coming from a baritone into a falsetto, he spoke of carrying on from the odds. Of the terror in being aware what the world is all about. Of turning and facing the strange.
His songs were a salve to the alienated and also the misfits of the earth.
Lazarus by David Bowie
Bowie had just released his latest album, ‘Blackstar,’ on Friday, his 69th birthday. It shot to no. 1 around the iTunes chart inside U.K. no. 2 within the U.S., underscoring his appeal even though decades inside the music business.
Like his past releases, the effort — generally praised by music critics — defied genres. The influential music publication NME named it an amalgamation of “warped showtunes, skronking industrial rock, soulful balladeering, airy folk-pop, even hip-hop.”
That to put it succinctly was Bowie: there wasn’t a musical style he didn’t dabble in – and indelibly leave his mark upon.
Since his breakthrough with 1972’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust along with the Spiders from Mars,” Bowie’s reach was eclectic: glam rock, prog rock, pop rock, electronic rock.
And the outcome? Electric. To the tune of over 130 million records sold.
Though he did not have his first No. 1 single inside the United States until “Fame” in 1975, he’d also been making a mark with heavily played singles, including “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Suffragette City,” “Rebel Rebel” and the first Top 40 hit, 1975’s “Young Americans.”
After that, he was almost as present within the singles charts because the album charts, with hits for instance “Golden Years,” “Under Pressure” (with Queen), “Let’s Dance” (another No. 1), “Blue Jean” and “Never Let Me Down.”
“David Bowie was certainly one of my most critical inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for life,” tweeted rapper Kanye West, as news of his death made the rounds.
Music News Heaven 