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January 10 2016 - David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.
Rock chameleon and visionary David Bowie died Sunday after a long battle with cancer, his
business manager told NBC News. He was 69 years old and had just released his 47th album,
"Blackstar," to strong reviews.
Bill Zysblat, Bowie's business manager, said he had few details, but he confirmed that Bowie,
who was born David Jones in 1947 and was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in
1996, died sometime before midnight.
Bowie's son Duncan also confirmed the news early Monday on Twitter.
Bowie was among the primary innovators and showmen of rock 'n' roll for four decades. He
didn't just push the edge of the envelope. He often manufactured the envelope itself, with such
creations as glam rock and Ziggy Stardust, the otherworldly representative of extraterrestrials;
the post-apocalyptic Thin White Duke of the mid-1970s; and cutting-edge explorations into
dance music ("Let's Dance," 1983), European electronic music and even guitar-driven speed
metal (the poorly received band Tin Machine, which he fronted in the late 1980s).
Bowie came to fame with the appropriately named "Space Oddity" in 1969. It was an ethereal
outer space ballad that made Bowie — and the song's main character, the enigmatic "Major
Tom" — worldwide household names. In 2013, astronaut Chris Hadfield created a viral
sensation when he recorded it aboard the International Space Station.
Three years later, Bowie returned to the
cosmos with "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy
Stardust and the Spiders From Mars," a
bizarre cabaret piece-slash-arena rock
spectacle-slash-drug nightmare that
essentially created the spangled and
sequined world of glam rock. Rolling Stone
magazine named it one of the 50 greatest
rock albums of all time.
In what would become a recurring motif,
Bowire reversed course again in the mid-
1970s, switching to a chilled soul and funk
1/11/2016 nbcnews.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/m...ies-69-n493781 2/2
sound with the release of "Diamond Dogs." It signaled the debut of another persona — the
Thin White Duke — under which Bowie released the smash album "Young Americans," which
gave Bowie his first U.S. No. 1 hit, "Fame."
A sly undercurrent of apposite whimsy was always embedded in Bowie's music, which came
through most clearly during this era in a 1977 Christmas TV special. Bowie — as himself, not
any of his stage personae — performed "The Little Drummer Boy" with none other than Bing
Crosby.
This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.
business manager told NBC News. He was 69 years old and had just released his 47th album,
"Blackstar," to strong reviews.
Bill Zysblat, Bowie's business manager, said he had few details, but he confirmed that Bowie,
who was born David Jones in 1947 and was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in
1996, died sometime before midnight.
Bowie's son Duncan also confirmed the news early Monday on Twitter.
Bowie was among the primary innovators and showmen of rock 'n' roll for four decades. He
didn't just push the edge of the envelope. He often manufactured the envelope itself, with such
creations as glam rock and Ziggy Stardust, the otherworldly representative of extraterrestrials;
the post-apocalyptic Thin White Duke of the mid-1970s; and cutting-edge explorations into
dance music ("Let's Dance," 1983), European electronic music and even guitar-driven speed
metal (the poorly received band Tin Machine, which he fronted in the late 1980s).
Bowie came to fame with the appropriately named "Space Oddity" in 1969. It was an ethereal
outer space ballad that made Bowie — and the song's main character, the enigmatic "Major
Tom" — worldwide household names. In 2013, astronaut Chris Hadfield created a viral
sensation when he recorded it aboard the International Space Station.
Three years later, Bowie returned to the
cosmos with "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy
Stardust and the Spiders From Mars," a
bizarre cabaret piece-slash-arena rock
spectacle-slash-drug nightmare that
essentially created the spangled and
sequined world of glam rock. Rolling Stone
magazine named it one of the 50 greatest
rock albums of all time.
In what would become a recurring motif,
Bowire reversed course again in the mid-
1970s, switching to a chilled soul and funk
1/11/2016 nbcnews.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/m...ies-69-n493781 2/2
sound with the release of "Diamond Dogs." It signaled the debut of another persona — the
Thin White Duke — under which Bowie released the smash album "Young Americans," which
gave Bowie his first U.S. No. 1 hit, "Fame."
A sly undercurrent of apposite whimsy was always embedded in Bowie's music, which came
through most clearly during this era in a 1977 Christmas TV special. Bowie — as himself, not
any of his stage personae — performed "The Little Drummer Boy" with none other than Bing
Crosby.
This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.
This sucks!
RIP to one of the best ever. May Ziggy Stardust live forever!
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