David Bowie passed away yesterday at the age of 69 after an 18 month battle with cancer according to his Facebook page. How do you pay tribute to a hero, who was a hero for more than one day. He was a hero his whole adult life whether he was David Bowie, David Jones or Ziggy Stardust. His music forever changed the face of Rock’n’Roll. If it wasn’t for him we would not have many of the musicians we grew up with. He was inspiration, but he also made it OK to be different. He was the face of Glam Rock that shaped Punk that shaped New Wave and so on. He was also an original and because of that musicians were able to dress however they wanted. He made being androgynous normal in a time when people weren’t ready for it. Then as the music world ushered in music videos, he was there to change that format too. Releasing a 20 minute mini-movie for his song Blue Jean back when MTV was just a baby.
These are just a few examples how he left his stamp on music, but it was voice and the words that came from his lips that truly changed music. No one did music like him, and I am grateful for all the amazing songs we got from him. Including his farewell album Blackstar that was released just 3 days ago on his 69th birthday.
He sang, “But I never wave bye-bye,” in my favorite song Modern Love. So today, don’t wave bye bye, Let’s Dance. Put on your red shows and dance the blues as we remember Major Tom!
