Legendary British rock star David Bowie, who framed hits such as Ziggy Stardust with daringly androgynous displays of sexuality and glittering costumes, has died aged 69 after a secret battle with can
Legendary British rock star David Bowie, who framed hits such as Ziggy Stardust with daringly androgynous displays of sexuality and glittering costumes, has died aged 69 after a secret battle with cancer.
A chameleon and a visionary, Bowie straddled the worlds of hedonistic rock, fashion and drama for five decades, pushing the boundaries of music and his own sanity to produce some of the most innovative songs of his generation.
“David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer,” read a statement on Bowie’s Facebook page dated Sunday. Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, confirmed the death. Mourners laid flowers and lit candles beside a memorial to Bowie in the Brixton area of south London where he was born. In a music video accompanying Bowie’s new Blackstar album, which was released on his 69th birthday last Friday, the singer was shown in a hospital bed with bandages around his eyes.
Born David Jones in south London two years after the end of World War II, he took up the saxophone at 13 before changing his name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with the Monkees’ Davy Jones, according to Rolling Stone. He shot to fame in Britain in 1969 with Space Oddity, whose lyrics he said were inspired by watching Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey while stoned.
But it was Bowie’s 1972 portrayal of a doomed bisexual rock envoy from space, Ziggy Stardust, that propelled him to global stardom. Bowie and Ziggy, wearing outrageous costumes, makeup and bright orange hair, took the rock world by storm. Bowie, ever the innovator ahead of public opinion, told the Melody Maker newspaper in 1972 that he was gay, a step that helped pioneer sexual openness in Britain, which had only decriminalised homosexuality in 1967. Bowie had married in 1970. He told Playboy four years later he was bisexual, but in the 1980s he told Rolling Stone magazine that the declaration was “the biggest mistake I ever made” and that he was “always a closet heterosexual”. He starred on Broadway in The Elephant Man and appeared in an array of films, including Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, The Snowman, Absolute Beginners and Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. His love-life fascinated gossip columnists and his marriage to stunning Somali supermodel Iman in 1992 guaranteed headlines.
