DAVID BOWIE (1947 - 2016)

I am incredibly shocked and deeply saddened to report that we have lost rock legend, David Bowie  on January 10th. The innovative singer/actor just turned sixty-nine three days ago and had released a jazz-rock fusion album, "Blackstar" also on that day. He had recently collaborated on an off-Broadway musical, "Lazarus" that was a surreal sequel to his best-known 1976 film role, “The Man Who Fell to Earth". Bowie had quietly been struggling with cancer for over a year.

He was born David Jones on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, London. After starting his professional career in music, he changed his surname to "Bowie", which was the name of a nineteenth-century fighting knife, because he didn't want to be confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees. Bowie's first album failed to attract much attention but that would completely change with his follow-up recording. "Space Oddity" was released in 1969 and the title track became a top-five hit in England.

It was the creation of his androgynous, space alien character, Ziggy Stardust and the 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" that helped propel Bowie in to a worldwide superstar. With theatrical stage shows, outrageous costumes and hard-driving rock & roll, Bowie became a highly influential figure in music. He soon retired the Ziggy persona and evolved in to the far more low-key but equally dramatic the Thin White Duke. During this period, Bowie recorded in Berlin three albums with his long-time producer Tony Visconti that had been considered some of his greatest work: "Low" "Heroes" and "Lodger". Then in the '80's, he shifted gears again and teamed up with producer Nile Rodgers to create "Let's Dance", an album of dance-powered rock which also brought the artist his biggest commercial success.

Over his considerable career, David Bowie had recorded twenty-five studio albums, was inducted in to The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and sold well over one hundred and forty million records across the globe. He is survived by his wife, Iman, a former model, who had been married since 1992 and their daughter, Alexandria. He is also survived by a son, Duncan Jones, a filmmaker who was born with his first wife, Angela.

David Bowie was a unique and powerful voice in modern music who will never nor can ever be duplicated. Here are a few of my favorite songs from this great performer:

"Young Americans" - David Bowie (1975) mp3

"Sound & Vision" - David Bowie (1977) mp3

"Loving The Alien" - David Bowie (1985) mp3

"Time Will Crawl" - David Bowie (1987) mp3

David Bowie used promotional videos to creatively express his music through the use of stylish and poetic images long before MTV came on the scene. Here is the singer's final music video for the song, "Lazarus", a track from his recent album, "Blackstar":