David Bowie Dies of Cancer at 69

The legendary musician known for musical innovation and experimentation with his image died 18 months after being diagnosed with cancer. The the iconic rock star whose career spanned more than half a century and whose influence transcended music, fashion and sexuality, has died aged 69.

........................................From: .www.theguardian.com

Bowie — born David Jones on January 8th, 1947 in London — took up the saxophone at age 13, and when he left Bromley Technical High School (where a friend permanently paralyzed his left pupil in a fight) to work as a commercial artist three years later, he had started playing in bands (the Konrads, the King Bees, David Jones and the Buzz)

The 1960s were not a happy period for Bowie, who remained a struggling artist, awaiting his breakthrough. He dabbled in many different styles of music (without commercial success), and other art forms such as acting, mime, painting, and playwriting. He finally achieved his commercial breakthrough in 1969 with the song "Space Oddity," which was released at the time of the moon landing. Despite the fact that the literal meaning of the lyrics relates to an astronaut who is lost in space, this song was used by the BBC in their coverage of the moon landing, and this helped it become such a success (...)

 In the mid 1970s, Bowie was a heavy cocaine abuser and sometime heroin user. In 1975, he changed tack. Musically, he released "Young Americans," a soul (or plastic soul as he later referred to it) album. This produced his first number one hit in the US, "Fame." He also appeared in his first major film, El hombre que cayó a la tierra (1976). With his different-colored eyes and skeletal frame, he certainly looked the part of an alien (...) Towards the end of the 1970s, he finally kicked his drug habit, and recorded the album many of his fans consider his best, the Japanese-influenced "Scary Monsters." Around this time, he played the Elephant Man on Broadway, to considerable acclaim (...)

Bowie has influenced the course of popular music several times and influenced several generations of musicians. His promotional videos in the 1970s and 80s are regarded as ground-breaking, and as a live concert act, he is regarded as the most theatrical of them all.

...................................................................................................From: www.imdb.com

- INTERVIEW with DAVID BOWIE -

1973

2002

THE MARTIAN (OST) DAVID BOWIE - "STARMAN"

- SOME OF BOWIE'S BEST QUOTES -

“You can neither win nor lose if you don't run the race.”

I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.(Madison Square Gardens on his 50th birthday)

I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human.

“Confront a corpse at least once. The absolute absence of life is the most disturbing and challenging confrontation you will ever have.”

I wanted to prove the sustaining power of music

I'm just an individual who doesn't feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I'm working for me.

“Make the best of every moment. We’re not evolving. We’re not going anywhere.” Esquire, 2004
“I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity.”

“As an adolescent, I was painfully shy, withdrawn. I didn’t really have the nerve to sing my songs on stage, and nobody else was doing them. I decided to do them in disguise so that I didn’t have to actually go through the humiliation of going on stage and being myself. I continued designing characters with their own complete personalities and environments. I put them into interviews with me! Rather than be me — which must be incredibly boring to anyone — I’d take Ziggy in, or Aladdin Sane or The Thin White Duke. It was a very strange thing to do.”