Nearly 30 years on from his first recordings, an image by Nick Night for Bowie's 1993 album Black Tie, White Noise |
And for some reason it feels as if this rash of premature deaths seems to be more pronounced than in previous years. I think it's because we (baby boomers) grew up with these stars: Bowie, Cohen, Keith Emmerson - to name a few. Many led high pressure lives, filled with heavy drug habits and alcoholism which must have contributed, at least in part, to their premature demise.
Original hand-coloured black-and-white image used for the breakthrough Spiders album back in 1972. Photo was by Brian Ward and was shot in Heddon Street, central London. |
Above all others, David Bowie transformed his persona many times through his life - so many times that I think he developed a real fear of schizophrenia. Here are some of the most memorable images documenting a truly remarkable career.
Top: Image shot in the 70s during Bowie's Stardust tour. Bottom: Iconic studio shot of Bowie from Greg Gorman |
Aladdin Sane Iconic image (this is actually an outtake from the shoot) of Bowie shot by Duffy in 1973 and, at right, an image shot for Bowie's Heroes album, by Masayoshi Sukita. |
Left: Another fine image shot by Brian Ward for the Hunky Dory album in '71. At right: Bowie's last live performance, in Germany, in 2004, photo by Jo Hale |
For me Bowie is probably the most iconic loss out of all these musos - I grew up with David Jones and his albums; Hunky Dory and Space Oddity, went mad over his groundbreaking The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, loved his metamorphosis into Aladdin Sane (even though I'd no idea what that was all about...) and have admired his career shifts through the years to Young Americans, Station to Station, Low and of course, the brilliant Heroes, A Reality Tour and Let's Dance...
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