Monday, January 11, 2016

David Bowie dies of cancer aged 69

David Bowie

David Bowie dies of cancer aged 69

The legendary musician known for musical innovation and experimentation with his image died 18 months after being diagnosed with cancer

Monday 11 January 2016

David Bowie has died, 18 months after being diagnosed with cancer.

The 69-year-old singer’s death was confirmed in a Facebook post from his official page:
“David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.”



David Bowie
Photo by Andrew Kent
Poster by T.A.

Writing on Twitter, Bowie’s son, the film director Duncan Jones, also confirmed the news.

His publicist also verified Bowie’s death. The singer’s latest album, Blackstar, was released last week to coincide with his 69th birthday.
Bowie, born David Robert Jones, released 25 albums in his career as well as acting in several films. He changed his name early in his career to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
Bowie was known for his experimentation across diverse musical genres and his alter egos such as Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and the Thin White Duke.
After releasing his first hit, Space Oddity, in 1969 Bowie became a global superstar with the success of albums such as Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The late 1970s saw Bowie produce a three-album collaboration with Brian Eno known as the Berlin trilogy before he embraced pop in the 1980s, finding chart success with songs such as Let’s Dance and Queen collaboration Under Pressure.
Bowie’s acting career took off with his performance in Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, followed by roles in films such as Labyrinth, The Last Temptation of Christ and Absolute Beginners. More recently, he also appeared as himself in the film Zoolander and the Ricky Gervais sitcom Extras.
He had kept a low profile in recent years after reportedly suffering a heart attack in the 2000s, and his last live performance was at a 2006 charity show in New York.
“My entire career, I’ve only really worked with the same subject matter,” Bowie said in a 2002 interview. “The trousers may change, but the actual words and subjects I’ve always chosen to write with are things to do with isolation, abandonment, fear and anxiety all of the high points of one’s life.”
British prime minister David Cameron, musician Marc Almond and journalist Jon Snow were among the first to pay tribute to Bowie online.

Bowie had been married to model Iman since 1992, with whom he had a daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones.



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