Yep. Exactly this. I thought that he would far outlive me, and I’m 58 in perfect health.
I thought that the post on Facebook was one of those stupid ads, like the “We say Goodbye to the Rock” kind of things.
The sketch is from an old image. Ziggy Stardust. It a good rendition of it. 
Well shit. I was just thinking about what he’d be like when he’s really old. Fuck.
I like a lot of his stuff, but I don’t think it is possible to like all of his songs as he reinvented himself so often. Speaking if duets, I love his Little Drummer Boy with of all people Bing Crosby, I remember watching that Christmas special with my parents when they first did it.
He had of course the best song in The Martian, I use to have about 6 of his tapes, I seem to only have 1 CD though, ChangesBowie, which is a best of made of awesome.
I have it blasting through the entire house and outside as I type this post in fact.
And knife inventor! What?
Same here. And anything was possible.
So, I just listened to Lazarus and was wonder struck.
Bowies’ entire life was defined by creativity, right up until the very end. It sure seems that he knew the end was nigh and wrote that into the last album. The timing of its release, so quickly followed by his death adds a level of surreality to his showmanship.
*Ziggy played guitar . . . *
Having grown up in the 70s, he initially was just another of those larger-than-life rock gods (like Elton and his glasses) and I didn’t pay a lot of attention. By the time I hit high school in the 80s, he simultaneously fit multiple categories for me… a preppy dresser for me to swoon over because that was all the rage, and the long-haired hottie of Labyrinth that I’d end up loving for the rest of my life.
Musically however, he never really clicked for me until I realized Major Tom was his sometime in my twenties. Then I was impressed as all hell with his ingenuity and boundary pushing. Which, in turn, led to The Man who Fell to Earth and I was in awe. He really had so much talent it was astounding and, if he’d ever chose to follow it more as a main pursuit, he could’ve been an extremely good actor. Such a loss. 
Just the other day, I rented The Hunger and enjoyed his performance enough to look for my own copy. Instead, I think I’ll spend that money on this latest album. Because if Blackstar is any indication, it’ll be just as brilliant as he was.
I hope he rendezvous with my husband beyond the stars and gives him a one-on-one rendition of Angie. Jaceson loved that. Rest in peace, sir, and may all your legion of fans take comfort in how much you truly dominated being an icon.
His last artistic statement: make sure the release is left to when it is clear that he has very little time left, let his fans listen for a few days, and then do the ultimate drops mic, and walks off stage, thus revealing the true nature of the album.
I wouldn’t put that past him, to be honest.
So.
About 1997, my friend Di called me up all excited. The local radio station had announced that the next morning, the Tower Records in Burbank would be giving out 25 pairs of tickets to a secret, super-exclusive same-day Bowie show to the first 25 Bowie mega-fans to show up. She’s just as big a fan as I am, but she couldn’t get there - I, however, was working fairly close by and might be able to do it. After work, I had my ride drop me off at the record store and I spent the night camped out in front (as one did, back then.) I was I think 10th in line. By the time the store opened at 8:00 AM there were well over 100 people there.
I got the tickets, called Di, and the two of us skived off work and went to Universal Studios/CityWalk, where the concert was being held in one of the backstage areas. 51 people at that concert, one of whom was The Man. I was maybe 15 feet away from him, he was sitting on a chair and the rest of us were sitting on the ground. It was awesome.
I grew up with his music all around - Mom says that I was singing along with Changes before I was two (though I didn’t quite get it - I would sometimes say “You’re driving your momma and poppa to the store” or “up the wall” instead of “insane”). She saw him live when he played L.A. on the Diamond Dogs tour; I didn’t get to see him until the Glass Spider tour when I was 16.
I have nearly all his albums, though I’m missing a bunch from the 90’s (not his best period). His recent albums are damn good.
I wish he was still alive.
Tapatalk timed out my post. I would have been about 5th in this thread. So I will skip the shock and comment on the responses everywhere… news, facebook, papers, twitter, etc etc etc.
When Lemmy died I commented to my partner that ok, I get it he died, and yeah, good musician. But really does the whole world stop because of a musician? Yesterday were you posting videos and quoting lyrics all the damn time. Partner commented that with our group of friends, yes, this is probably true.
So, today I am eating my own words almost before they’ve had a chance to cool down. There are only two news items I give a damn about, both are about a tragic break. (The other is the Nipigon Bridge, if you care google it or read the Canadoper thread in MPSIMS) The media is obliging me. I am soaking it all up. Last week I told my son that while I don’t have a “favourite” song anymore my answer will always be “Changes” by David Bowie. It was my favourite song by my favourite artist when that was important to me. Now that time has changed me, well I guess Changes is a constant.
What is interesting is, at least in what I see, there is no one song that is going to get played over and over as a tribute…except Space Oddity. Deep album cuts are being posted, and quoted.
Here is mine
“Things that happened in the past,
only happened in your mind…
so forget your mind and you’ll be free!”
There are worse songs to have played at my funeral.
Awesome…Rest in peace, David, and thank you…
I only saw him three times - once during the “Serious Moonlight” tour and twice during the “Glass Spider” tour. I wished I had seen some of the later shows as the ones I saw were dominated by theatrics, great music, but David was an amazing musician…
Wish I had seen this…one of his best songs and he gave it to his friend Ian Hunter to perform with Moot the Hoople…
Very sad. I was at best a medium Bowie fan. But my old roommate back in West Texas was a huge fan, so I heard him a lot and did appreciate him. I wasn’t even aware he had heart surgery 15 years ago, which BBC just mentioned, and I was used to him dropping out of the spotlight for years at a time.
RIP, David.
Heh, I remember being in elementary school when The Monkees was big, then I think I was in junior high when Bowie broke out, and everyone kept saying Bowie was the Davy Jones on the show.I was puzzled by the lack of resemblance, but everyone seemed so sure.
She says, “Thank you.” And reported that her high school played Bowie over the school radio today. That certainly made me smile.
Buzzfeed takes a look at Iman’s recent Instagram posts over the last weeks.
Be prepared for a lot of dust in your room all of a sudden.