David Bowie remembered for lasting impact on music
Pop music lost British icon David Bowie Sunday when he lost his battle against cancer just days after his 69th birthday. Bowie touched the lives of everyone in the arts, from fashionistas to filmmakers and musicians alike. As a singer, songwriter and producer, Bowie excelled during his 40-plus year career.
On Friday, Bowie released his 25th album Blackstar, which many are calling “a parting gift.” On Monday, Blackstar peaked at number one on the U.S. iTunes albums chart. The album art includes hospital beds and worshipped skulls. The final two songs seem especially fitting. In “Dollar Days,” an acoustic ballad, Bowie repeatedly sings that he’s “dying to” defy expectations, followed by a reflective electronic song where Bowie sings about leaving people wanting for more.
Bowie continued challenging the public and making great contributions to music until the very end. His artistic breakthrough came with 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, an album that fostered the idea of a rock star as a space alien. Bowie had created a flamboyant, androgynous alter ego: Ziggy Stardust.
Three years later, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number one single “Fame.” Other memorable songs include “Golden Years,” “Let’s Dance,” “Space Oddity,” “Heroes,” “Changes” and “Under Pressure,” among others.
Bowie also pursued an acting career. He was applauded for his three-month Broadway stint in The Elephant Man in 1980, starred in Marlene Dietrich’s last film, Just a Gigolo, and appeared in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.
He also produced albums for artists such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop and earned a lifetime achievement Grammy Award in 2006. He had maintained a low profile since 2006, re-emerging in 2013 with the album The Next Day, which catapulted to No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It became his highest-charting album.
If anyone needs any proof of the breadth of Bowie’s influence on music and culture, look no further than the many tributes that have rightfully sparked out over the last few days. Late night television paid tribute to Bowie Monday night. Conan O’Brien shared a montage of the numerous times Bowie stopped by Late Night, not just as a musical guest, but also someone eager to joke around with the host. In the clip, Bowie is victim to O’Brien’s schemes, including a photo history of Bowie’s fake onstage personas and a personalized O’Brien song.
“Such a lovely man,” O’Brien said after the montage.
Over on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon also remembered Bowie.
“We’d actually emailed each other jokes now and then. He was brilliant and sharp and dark and funny,” Fallon said.
A number of Bowie’s friends and fellow artists also paid tribute to the star via Twitter and Facebook.
American singer Iggy Pop hailed Bowie as “the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person. He was the best there is,” he tweeted.
New Zealand sensation Lorde also took to Twitter to describe the loss, saying, “I’ve never met a hero of mine and liked it. David was different.”
Film director Guillermo Del Toro, who has described himself as a huge fan, said, “Bowie existed so all of us misfits learned that an oddity was a precious thing. He changed the world forever.”
A memorial concert is planned for New York’s Carnegie Hall in memory of Bowie. The concert will feature 20 artists and will include performances by The Roots, Bettye Lavette and Robyn Hitchcock.