Monday, January 11, 2016

Farewell David Bowie


One of the most influential musicians of all time has just passed away will his musical legacy outlive him?

By: Ringo Bones 

It is a sad day to everyone who virtually lived through his musical career marked by trendsetting reinvention for over 40 years. According to his official Facebook site, David Bowie passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 10, 2016, aged 69 surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month long battle with cancer. Tributes around the world have already been expressed but it is still a sad day to us who virtually grew up with his music. 

David Bowie’s artistic and commercial breakthrough came in 1972 with Ziggy Stardust where the iconic Space Oddity was introduced to a new generation of fans after Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield made his own version and music video of it on the International Space Station a few years ago. Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s version is also noted as the first music video made entirely in the weightless environment of space.

David Bowie’s musical career is marked by continuous reinvention and staying fresh and relevant in the rapidly evolving music scene of the 1970s and the 1980s. His 1983 album Let’s Dance made well known by the title track and the Billboard Top 40 singles Modern Love, China Girl and Blue Jean was not only well loved by his fans around the world, is also probably his most commercially successful album to date.
David also appeared in three feature films. The two most notably known is the science fiction classic The Man To Fell To Earth and the World War II era prisoner of war movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. During the latter half of the 1990s, he made a pioneering effort to promote his Earthing album and singles on the internet. Starting a trend which will shape how music will be shared in a few years time. Even though there are plans for him to perform at Glastonbury, he made his last public appearance in 2006. His album Blackstar was released last week.