RIP David Bowie

[Viero_Berlotti]

Official Twitter and Facebok confirming death from cancer. Thought it was a hoax but it's just been confirmed as true by Duncan Jones on Twitter. Slim hope this is all still a hoax, but fuck I think this is true..

[Jockice]

Oh shit, apparently it is true. RIP.

[SteveDave]

Fuck. This is the first death of someone I didn't know that's made me feel miserable like a family members died.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Jesus wept.

Got me greeting.

[Crabwalk]

You're not alone pal. Hugs all round this morning.

[TheMonk]

Bugger of fuck.

[Butchers Blind]

Very very sad.  One of the few musicians who changed not just music but our culture and attitudes.  He truly gave us the gift of sound and vision.  RIP.

[AsparagusTrevor]

Holy shitting buggering balls. RIP.

[phantom_power]

Gutted. I was going to post in the Blackstar thread the other day that I have been concerned about his health for a while and that the tone and iconography of the new album did nothing to allay those fears. I have never been more sad to be right.

My wife phoned me in tears to tell me like a family member had died, and that's sort of how it feels at the moment. My car was loaded up with Bowie tunes as I was going through one of my regular binges but I don't think I will be able to listen for a while

RIP

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Oh man. RIP a true genius and legend.

Off to play Hunky Dory a few times.

[madhair60]

fuck

[Vodka Margarine]

Absolutely numb with shock here. A simply unmatchable artist, icon, sheer force of nature. In many ways, he was the ultimate pop hero.

[alan nagsworth]

The greatest rock star this world will ever see. Absolutely beautiful in every way, and the first person to make me realise just how utterly gorgeous another man could be. I've never been quite so awestruck at how inspiring, creative, cool and downright sexy anyone else could manage to be throughout their entire fucking lives.

Watching youtube performances and blubbering like an absolute baby over here. My mum phoned me in tears at 7:30. Jesus man, what a legacy, what commitment that he kept this quiet and pursued his vision in Blackstar, which must have been inspired by his illness. Some of the lyrics on "Dollar Days", man:

'If I never see the English evergreens I'm running to, it's nothing to me.'

'I'm dying too.'

Ugh, I can't stop crying. Rest in peace, Bowie, I love you.

[The Region Legion]

I haven't heard Blackstar yet. Glad there's still some Bowie for me to enjoy.

I just watched the Lazarus video. I can't believe this sick fuck made art out of his own imminent death. Just fucking glorious. What a life. What a person. There'll be no one like him ever again.

[Black_Bart]

Would like to remind people that he did the great service of getting a mix of Raw Power that everybody was happy (enough) to release. And that his missus is now single...

[Petey Pate]

A pissed up Bowie lip syncing Golden Years on Soul Train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shnrnqx_wsY

Also on the soul/funk front, Bowie was good enough to be ripped off by James Brown (though the main riff of Fame was written by a guitarist who was formally in Brown's band before playing with Bowie).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vn--qcqxXI

[phantom_power]

Made the mistake of looking at Facebook and seeing all the tributes from all different types of people I know and celebs I follow has nearly made me burst into tears at my desk at work.

I couldn't even begin to write a tribute. So many good songs. So many contributions to popular culture. So many stories. I can't imagine the world without his influence

[Paaaaul]

Has anyone died while being #1 in the UK album charts before?

[Dirty Boy]

Can't fucking believe it. Gutted.

Still got to hear the new album. May have to leave it a while.

[purlieu]

I've posted a few things on Facebook already, but nothing's really doing a good job of expressing how I'm feeling. Just utterly, utterly terrible.

Last January it was Edgar Froese, this January it's Bowie. I'm already dreading next January.

It's such a Bowie way to go really, though, release what is possibly his most challenging record to date to huge critical acclaim, and then just disappear without warning, leaving the rest of us to try and understand it all. There's going to be a lot of close reading of Blackstar's lyrics in the near future.

[momatt]

Has anyone died while being #1 in the UK album charts before?

Not sure, probably not many with new material anyway.
Bloody nifty trick.

[biniput]

Saw the BBC news and a bit of a "fucking hell" moment for a short while. I knew of his heart condition but not this. So many big cultural contributors dying and you look at the nothing coming along to replace them. Maybe one centuries creatives are indeed one offs and the next wave of world beaters will be of a very different nature?

[Famous Mortimer]

Fuck you Damon Albarn:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-bowie-the-times-david-bowie-turned-down-new-years-honours-a6805501.html

[Head Gardener]

a great Radio Soulwax mix

[daf]

Goodbye sweet Dame. It was all for the best. All of it.

[Pseudopath]

Has anyone died while being #1 in the UK album charts before?

He's not though (it's still Adele). He's #1 in the midweek chart (released today), but it isn't actually considered a proper Number 1 until Friday (sadly).

There's also the danger that everyone goes out and buys Best of Bowie in the inevitable rush to flood the chart with his classic songs.

[Paaaaul]

 Aha. Must've been a midweek chart I saw then.

[buzby]

a great Radio Soulwax mix

It is - i'd forgotten how brilliant the mix and accompanying video are, a fitting tribute to the man and his ever-changing characters. I remember seeing Soulwax live on 'Any Minute Now' tour and they did their own support as 2 Many DJs. They opened with their edit of 'Rebel Rebel' that has the 'I am a DJ, I am what I play' line from 'D.J.' looped over the intro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TNaOj0hAxc

[bakabaka]

I just watched the Lazarus video. I can't believe this sick fuck made art out of his own imminent death. Just fucking glorious.

At that point it seems the obvious thing to do. At least the way he did it it meant that if he screwed up and was miraculously cured he wouldn't look a twat, unlike some of us.

One of my favourite memories is of him with Marc Bolan, the two men who invented glam rock, on Bolan's last performance. The last 5 seconds are priceless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp1C7g-NsLQ

[purlieu]

I hadn't actually seen the Lazarus video until just now. That was one of the most difficult, if brilliant, things I've ever watched. Wow.