Decker

Shocking and incredibly sad news.
I just got my daughter into Bowie in the past few months and she's really digging his music now. It's timeless and brilliant.

wishbone

I didn't believe it when I read it online. His music and legacy will always be with us.

hdnmickey

All this reminded me that I was going to search out the two Tin Machine albums. Really hard to find, but worth the effort.

cdollaz

They really kept his illness under wraps. The timing of the new album is curious. I wonder if he was planning it before his diagnosis or if it was his parting gift to the world knowing time was short.

Either way, it sucks and is a total shocker.

slop101

Geniuses are usually assholes, but Bowie was one of the rare true geniuses that was also a kind and sweet person, a class act all the way.

His run of albums through the '70s is unparalleled.

cungar

He was diagnosed 18 months ago so he almost certainly knew it was probably his last.

CRM114

Given the title, I'm sure he knew it was his farewell.

It explains his total lack of interest in a tour despite his greatest critical success in years.

story

My wife is a huge David Bowie fan. I read this sad news here last night just before bed, decided to tell her in the morning before she opened social media. She just plain lost it.

When we first met ten years ago, Bowie's music was one of the first things she made sure to tell me was special to her. Not just the music, tbough, but what the man stood for, his influence on so many creative people, and she has loved Labyrinth since she was a little girl, too. She didn't have an easy childhood or teen years and, as many young people use music as part of their "escape," Bowie was a big part of hers. We're going to show Labyrinth to our oldest daughter this weekend.

The man transcended and reinvented himself with integrity and grace throughout his life. My prayer is that last night, he did the same, one last time. "Check ignition and may God's love be with you... two... one... liftoff..."

Pointyskull

Check out the video for 'Lazarus'.
It's a beautiful, Bowie-cool farewell from a man who knew he was dying...

mndtrp

Not many artists change their sound and image with (almost) every release, let alone have success. His influence and iconic status was legendary, and his music will carry it all on.

Mabuse

Well said and so true. So many rock stars are always brooding because smiling wouldn't be cool or something. Bowie could smile from ear to ear and still come off looking cool.

cungar

I heard a heart wrenching interview on British Radio this morning where he talked about his fear of death and leaving his daughter behind. It was hard to listen to at this point.

CRM114

Ugh, it'll be tough.

Glad I work in an office of cool people. We are spanning the decades of Bowie music today. On now, Up The Hill Backwards.

hdnmickey

It helps that he was extremely good looking. Many of those stars that never smile look worse when they do so.

JasonF

I saw a note on Twitter. It was actually posted yesterday, before Bowie died. It simply read: If you're ever sad, think about the fact that the Earth is billions of years old and you're alive at the same time as David Bowie.

Think about it. Thousands of years of civilization, hundreds of thousands of years of human beings, billions of years of life on Earth. We only get to experience the most miniscule slice of it. And your miniscule slice overlapped with David Bowie.

Leonardo DaVinci never experienced David Bowie. George Washington never experienced David Bowie. Genghis Khan carved out one of the largest empires the world has ever known but he never got to experience David Bowie.

And the people of the future -- the kids being born today, or next week, or next year, or a thousand years from now -- they will get to experience David Bowie, but not the way we did. They won't get to see him reinvent himself, and reinvent music, time and again. They won't get to wonder what he will do next. They won't get to hear a new Bowie album and listen to something entirely unlike what he had done before.

In many ways, the natural order of the universe is for there to be no David Bowie. What an immense privilege to have been herre for the brief period when that wasn't the case.

Ky-Fi

One of my favorites as well. And unlike a lot of other artists with a theatrical, flamboyant image, when you strip all that away with Bowie you actually have an incredibly skilled, subtle, creative, brilliant songwriter underneath.

Jaymole

Just wanted to post the video of my favorite Bowie song. I've been listening to his music all morning at work.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6VrqCBsbeuc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

islandclaws

Few deaths have hit me like this one. When I discovered Bowie, it was like hearing music for the first time. His sounds, his styles, his acting, his candor... I am with everyone else in that he really seemed to be immortal. And in some ways, I suppose, he is. He went out with a bang - Blackstar is fantastic - and he leaves an immeasurable body of work. Such a loss.

Talkin2Phil

Here are the opening lines of Lazarus:

Look up here, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now

I have so much respect that he and his loved ones kept his dying of cancer private. Always changing, now he is giving his persona of his afterlife, amazing.

cungar

My first memory of his music hitting me hard was at my high school dances in 1979. John I'm Only Dancing and TVC15 were played constantly at our dances. I remember wondering what TVC15 meant. Thinking it was some kind of code. My brother had the Diamond Dogs album and that cover always tripped me out. Especially when we were rolling joints on the open sleeve.

Why So Blu?

Even his son was actively posting on Twitter right up until it was announced.

nando820

RIP to one of the greatest musicians who ever lived.
I used to listen to "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust" over and over while i was in college, and even when I started writing songs I remember trying (unsuccessful) to sing like he did.
Extremely sad news
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-oQO-kGU2lA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

majorjoe23

This sucks. The "major" in my username was inspired by "Space Oddity." At my 10-year college reunion a bunch of the organizers assumed I was in the military, due to an email that's similar to my username.

No, I'm just a David Bowie fan.

ultimaton

love this post

Drexl

Wow, I just found out. This is terrible news. RIP.