Longview News-Journal from Longview, Texas • B4

4B Longview News-Journal, Tuesday, January 12, 2016 David Bowie: A legend lost AP File Photo David Bowie on Sept. 14, 1995, performs in Hartford, Conn. Bowie, the innovative and iconic singer whose illustrious career lasted five decades, died Sunday after battling cancer for 18 months. He was 69. "What I'm most proud of is that I've affected the vocabulary of pop music." David Bowie Tributes for iconic singer LONDON (AP) Tributes have poured in for singer David Bowie, who died Sunday aged 69.

Politicians, entertainers, actors and astronauts have expressed their sadness at his death. Here is a look at some of the reactions: Bruce Springsteen: "Over here on Street, we're feeling the great loss of David Bowie. David was a visionary artist and an early supporter of our music. Always changing and ahead of the curve, he was an artist whose excellence you aspired to. He will be sorely missed." Debbie Harry: "Without this visionary and his friend Iggy Pop where would Blondie be today? Silly question and one that can't be answered really but there is no doubt in my mind that Bowie played a big part in our future successes.

As for now, love you David Bowie." Mick Jagger: "David was always an inspiration to me and a true original. He was wonderfully shameless in his work. We had so many good times He was my friend. I will never forget him." Bette Midler: "Bowie WAS The Man Who Fell to Earth. Curious, brilliant, enigmatic and sweet.

We needed him and he appeared, changing our perceptions forever." Bowie's son, director Duncan Jones, posted a picture of his smiling father on Twitter: "Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for a while. Love to all." Irish singer Hozier: "Unthinkable. The world has lost one of the most important artists and icons of our time. I was moved immeasurably by David Bowie.

RIP." Mariah Carey: "David Bowie we will remember your brilliance. Heartfelt condolences to family, friends fans around the world." Josh Groban: "He never seemed of this earth. Now he's left it. He bent rules, gender, genres, and our minds. RIP David Bowie.

One. Of. A. Kind." German Foreign Office: "Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among Heroes.

Thank you for helping to bring down the waU." Madonna: "Im Devastated! This great Artist changed my life! First concert i ever saw in Detroit!" Paul McCartney: "His music played a very strong part in British musical history and I'm proud to think of the huge influence he has had on people all around the world. "I send my deepest sympathies to his family and will always remember the great laughs we had through the years. His star will shine in the sky forever." Legendary musician dies of cancer at 69 NEW YORK (AP) David Bowie, the chameleon-like star who transformed the sound and the look of rock with his audacious creativity and his sexually ambiguous makeup and costumes, died of cancer Sunday. Bowie, whose hits included "Space Oddity," "Fame," "Heroes" and "Let's Dance," died surrounded by family, representative Steve Martin said early Monday. The singer, who was 69, had fought cancer for 18 months.

Long before alter egos and wild outfits became commonplace in pop, Bowie turned the music world upside down with the release of the 1972 album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" which introduced one of music's most famous per-sonas. "Ziggy Stardust" was a concept album that imagined a rock star from outer space trying to make his way in the music world. The persona the red-headed, eyeliner wearing Stardust would become an enduring part of Bowie's legacy, and a touchstone for the way entertainers packaged themselves for years to come. Bowie's birthday was Friday, the same day as he released his new album, "Blackstar." A statement on social media asked fan's to respect the family's privacy. No more details were provided.

Born David Jones in London, the singer came of age in the early 1970s glam rock era. He had a striking androgynous look in his early days and was known for changing his appearance and sounds. After "Ziggy Stardust," the stuttering rock sound of "Changes" gave way to the disco soul of "Fame," co-written with John Lennon, to a droning collaboration with Brian Eno in Berlin that produced "Heroes." He had some of his biggest successes in the early 1980s with the bombastic "Let's Dance," and a massive American tour. Another one of his definitive songs was "Under Ups and ASSOCIATED PRESS It was hardly a coincidence that David Bowie named his greatest hits collection "Changes." Bowie changed musical styles, fashion, even his name from David Jones in a re-lentless exploration of the artistic muse. More than any one sound or song, that sharklike ability to keep moving forward defined him.

Even his exit was an artistic statement. He released a striking video last week for his new song, "Lazarus," that depicts him in an institutional bed, his eyes covered in gauze. "Look up here, I'm in heaven," he sings in the song's song "Lazarus," which shows a frail Bowie lying in bed and singing the track's lyrics. The song begins with the line: "Look up here, I'm in heaven." On the U.S. iTunes albums chart, which updates frequently throughout the day to reflect digital purchases from users, Bowie's "Blackstar" peaked at No.

1 on Monday. "Best of Bowie" was No. 2, and two other Bowie albums reached the Top 10. The two-time Grammy Award winner was remembered by The Recording Academy as a man and visionary artist." "He is remembered and celebrated today for his audacious approach to pushing creative boundaries and ability to reinvent himself time and time again, changing the course of pop music in the process. His art will live on forever." Pressure," which he recorded with Queen; Vanilla Ice would years later infamously use the song's hook for his smash hit "Ice Ice Baby." "My entire career, I've only really worked with the same subject matter," Bowie told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview.

"The trousers may change, but the actual words and subjects I've always chosen to write with are things to do with isolation, abandonment, fear and anxiety all of the high points of one's life." Bowie lived in West Berlin in the late 1970s and Mayor Michael Mueller said Monday that "Heroes" became "the hymn of our then-divided city and its longing for freedom." Germany's Foreign Ministry added Bowie was "now among heroes" and thanked him for "helping to bring down the wall." Bowie's performance of and said he gave rock music a necessary shot in the arm. "Like all rock 'n' roll, it was visionary, it was tasteless, it was glamorous, it was perverse, it was fun, it was crass, it was sexy and it was confusing," Byrne said. Bowie kept a low profile in recent years after a reported heart attack in the 2000s. He made a moody album three years ago called "The Next Day" his first recording in a decade. "Blackstar," which earned positive reviews from critics, represented yet another stylistic shift, as he gathered jazz players to join him.

"David always did it his way and his way was the least obvious way," said Tony Visconti, Bowie's longtime producer. "He was a true genius who proved it over and over again through groundbreaking albums." Bowie released a music video on Friday for the new John Lennon collaboration, "Fame." He moved to Berlin to explore a minimal, industrial sound with collaborator Brian Eno. And in the mid-1980s era of big albums, Bowie appeared in a smart suit with the invitation, "Let's Dance." That album, which also included the hits "Modern Love" and "China Girl," really marked the end of his mainstream success. Bowie kept moving, even if not all his explorations were rewarding; his 1990s band Tin Machine produced some unlistenable noise. The restlessness left him with a conflicted relationship with his old hits.

He vowed to retire them after the 1990 "Sound and Vision" tour, but didn't stick to that and performed them with downs, Bowie had evolving career grace and enthusiasm on tour a decade later. He was soft-spoken with a very British politeness in our only meeting, a 2002 interview where he allowed himself a brief flash of pride. "What I'm most proud of is that I can't help but notice that I've affected the vocabulary of pop music," he said then. "For me, frankly, as an artist, that's the most satisfying thing for the ego." Everyone touched by Bowie's music takes their own moment of inspiration. Kurt Cobain covered "The Man Who Sold the World" with Nirvana.

Vanilla Ice repur-posed Bowie's collaboration with Queen, "Under Pressure," into his biggest hit. "Heroes" was also a highlight at a concert for rescue workers after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. "What I'm most proud of is that I can't help but notice that I've affected the vocabulary of pop music. For me, frankly, as an artist, that's the most satisfying thing for the ego," Bowie said. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Madonna accepted for him and recounted how a Bowie concert changed her life when she attended it as a teenager.

David Byrne, of the art rockers Talking Heads, inducted Bowie Bowie quite literally seemed from another world in his early years. "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" was a concept album about an alien bisexual rock star. With his makeup and orange hair, Bowie participated fully in an era of excess. The splendid songs poured out in the 1970s: "Changes," "Starman," "Suffragette City," "Jean Genie," "Rebel Rebel," "Young Americans." He wrote Mott the Hoople's best-known song, "All the Young Dudes." The bodysuit ultimately proved confining. Bowie wasn't the first artist to make stylistic shifts, but few did it with such aplomb.

He delved into blue-eyed soul with his stared when the androgynous, seductive character appeared on British TV show "Top of the Pops" performing "Starman." Ziggy made Bowie a star, but even then he was clear-eyed about the capricious nature of fame and ruthless about moving on: "When the kids had killed the man, we had to break up the band," he sang on the album's title track. 4. "Young Americans" After Bowie killed off Ziggy in 1973, he moved through guises including the edgy Aladdin Sane before going to the United States and immersing himself in the sound of Philadelphia soul. 5. "The Man Who Fell to Earth" Bowie was perfectly cast as an alien adrift in the New Mexico desert in Nicholas Roeg's 1976 film, which opened up a parallel career path as an actor.

Five defining moments in career of musician David Bowie opening. A thin Bowie also appears dressed in a bodysuit that seems left over from the "Ziggy Stardust" years, retreating to a closet at the song's end. The song, like the elegaic "Where Are We Now?" from 2013, has him confronting issues of mortality in haunting fashion. We just never knew how close the end was. When it came on Sunday, Bowie had long since retreated from public view after a reported heart attack in the mid-2000s.

He'd released no new music for a decade before 2013 and the subsequent "Blackstar," released Friday. He gave no interviews in his last decade, and kept his 18-month cancer fight private. Chris Hadfield memorably performing it aboard the International Space Station in 2013. 2. "Hunky Dory" Bowie appeared on the cover of this 1971 album as an androgynous figure with long golden locks one in an ever-changing array of styles and personas he would adopt and abandon.

The songs explored sexual ambiguity, fame, new fatherhood and more. "Changes" was almost a career mission statement, while "Life on Mars," the tale of a misfit girl and her wild imagination, became one of his most enduring hits and gave its name to a 2006 TV show set in the 70s. 3. Ziggy Stardust Bowie adopted the persona of the flame-haired alien rock star for his 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars." A generation of teenagers stopped and LONDON (AP) It took years of hard work for David Jones to become David Bowie. The aspiring artist was a teen popster, a hippy-ish folkie and a purveyor of novelty records Laughing Gnome," best forgotten), before emerging from his chrysalis to become one of the most unpredictable and influential figures in music.

Here are 5 defining moments from the career of rock's greatest chameleon: 1. "Space Oddity" Bowie first displayed his knack for seizing the Zeitgeist with this out-of-this-world track released in 1969, the year of the first moon landing. Beautiful and melancholy, it told the story of astronaut Major Tom, adrift in space, lamenting "Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do." Real-life astronauts embraced the song, with Cmdr. news-journal.