This January 10th, 2016, the world of music suffered once again a colossal loss among its legends. After Lemmy Kilimster on December 28th, 2015, David Bowie succumbs to his cancer, at the age of 69 years.
Born on January the 8th of 1947, in London, he is recognized for his author-compositor-singer’s skills but also for his way to adapt to times and his fickle style. He finds his success in his 1969’s single (introduced well in his time), celebrating space, death and narcotics : Space Oddity. David Bowie made himself a name and sold more than 140 million albums in the whole world. He became the icon of rock. The day of his birthday in 2016 (ndlr: in January 8th), his 26st and last album : Blackstar, just came out.
Chameleon artist : « the man with 1 000 faces »
We will certainly remember of David Bowie as a chameleon, both for his clothing (and capillary choices) and musical style.
His many metamorphoses are evolving by crossing through the world of the art, fashion, theater and movies. He is himself a work of art, besides his remarkable career. Bowie shocks by his extravagance but revolutionizes thanks to his genius and his provocation.
From the 60s until the 21st century he has shown diverse characters as phantasmagorical as androgynous corresponding to different times in which he created his own legend. Ziggy Stardust is the most known of this character. A mix between a charismatic and glamorous alien that will change into Aladdin Sane, to become at the same time a singer quietened down in the 2000s, year of birth of his second child: Alexandria Zahra Jones.
He never hesitated to express what he felt, in particular about his own music: « I like the idea that [the lyrics are] vehicles for other people to interpret or use as they will ».
The cinema in Bowie’s way.
His career in cinema began unofficially in 1967 in the movie « The Image » where he held the secondary role of a boy. He continued to play in movies – for example « It is My Gigolo » alongside Marlène Dietrich – but his talent is really recognized in the movie « The Man Who Came Moreover », where he played the role of a curious extraterrestrial, totally opposed to the « E.T » of Spielberg and in « The Predators » alongside Catherine Deneuve. He gave an impressive performance in « Furyo » where he played an English prisoner of a Japanese camp in 1942 and broke the codes with the scene where he kissed the captain of the camp, Captain Yonoi, in front of his men. In an improper way, he was one of the main characters of the piece of junk (certainly, became cult): « Labyrinth ». We were sensitive to his performance of the famous artist Andy Warhol, in Julian Schnabel’s movie: « Basquiat ».
The Man of ease
Beside his talents, David Bowie is respected due to his ease as much on stage as behind a camera, but also for his outspokenness. Matter of fact, in 1972, time still marked by its intolerance for sexuality, he didn’t hesitate to reveal his bisexuality in an interview of the magazine Melody Maker. He came back to this fact 11 years later, saying that he regretted that revelation, in an interview for the Rolling Stones magazine.
However, in 2002, the magazine Blender returns on his contradiction and David Bowie answers honestly and in a more thoughtful way;
« Interesting. I don’t think it was a mistake in Europe, but it was a lot tougher in America. I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners or be a representative of any group of people. I knew what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer, and I felt that bisexuality became my headline over here for so long. America is a very puritanical place, and I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do. »
We shall remember of David Bowie, not only that he was a great artist (a visionary one), but also that he had an eccentric and edge cutting personality that will revolutionize mentalities as well as music.
Some facts on David Bowie:
- Bowie was fascinated by space and believed in a form of life out of Earth.
- His eyes were not wall eyes, but due to a fight with a friend when he was young one of his pupil is constantly dilated.
- In 2003, David Bowie was supposed to be ennobled, which he refused.
- He studied cinema and the art of mime with Lindsey Kemp (a famous British mime). He was often proposed roles [in « bad » movies] of old madwomen, transvestites or Martians.
- In 2004, because of health problems, David Bowie cancelled his » A Reality Tour « .
Mélanie B.
weareinfocom.com 