We were met with the sad news this week about the passing of iconic pop & rock artist, David Bowie, following an 18-month battle with cancer.
Bowie’s career spanned six decades and he released 27 studio albums. Although primarily considered a pop & rock artist, he was a huge proponent for black music, famously defending its absence in a discussion on MTV in 1982 and incorporating elements of jazz into many of his own recordings.
As fans, when a musician leaves us, we seek the solace that only their music can provide in that time. When John Lennon passed, the world turned to ‘Imagine’; for Michael Jackson it was ‘Man in the Mirror’; For Bowie however, fans have the release of his ‘Blackstar’ album – an album realized during his cancer diagnosis and which has subsequently been deemed his parting gift to his fans. An incredible testimonial revealing, as suggested by CNN, “a man grappling with his own mortality”.
Bowie was everything he was professed to be: an innovator, a pioneer, an icon, an artist. His legacy is infinite as his music and his influence has impacted countless generations – a feat that will continue with his death.
I’ll leave you with a couple of songs to mark his impact on me: the new song and video, 'Lazarus', from the new Blackstar album, and my absolute favourite of his songs – the Nile Rodgers produced ‘Modern Love’.
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