David Bowie dead at 69: Reflections on his musical legacy

Labyrinth, a dark children’s movie about a baby-stealing Goblin King and the teenage girl who outwits him, turns 30 on June 27. That’s three decades of wondering how a film that combined Jim Henson and David Bowie (plus some truly terrible CGI) not only got made but went on to become one of both men’s most memorable projects.

In honor of this bizarre film, and Bowie, who passed away in January at the age of 69, let’s look back at the glorious weirdness that began its life as box office flop and has since become a beloved cult classic.

The death of legendary rock star and artist David Bowie hit the global creative community like a dagger, but perhaps few were as deeply affected as the cast of the off-Broadway production of the musical Lazarus.

For Michael C. Hall, it was even more impactful, as at the time of Bowie’s death he was playing the title role in what turned out to be one of Bowie’s last creative works.

In the wake of David Bowie’s death, many of his fans have begun to revisit every scrap of his life, work, and words they can find. And rightly so — Bowie was famously prolific. Here are some of Ziggy Stardust’s most poignant words of wisdom on fear, fame, and how everyone should hang out with a dead body “at least once.”

While Bowie liked to joke that being a rock star married to a supermodel was, in fact, just as awesome as you might imagine, he also never felt a need to be famous. In fact, in a 2002 interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, Bowie said he wouldn’t even perform if he didn’t have to; he’d rather just make his music and be done with it.

The incredible legacy that David Bowie left behind after he died late Sunday night is so large, it’s hard to document in a single way. His gender-fluid performances, a space cover of “Space Oddity,” his role in the fall of the Berlin Wall — we’ve written a lot about Bowie here at Vox. If you’re newer to his music, here are 13 songs that defined him.

One thing that will always travel forward now that David Bowie is gone is his music. Countless celebrities shared their thoughts about his influence yesterday, but we can also document his influence by looking at artists who quoted him or sampled his music.

David Bowie’s contributions to the world of film and television are as substantial as those of any recording artist in history. Yes, many will remember him for his memorable roles in several films, but his songs and performances have scored some memorable movie moments as well. Here are nine of our favorites.

Bowie’s swooning “Life on Mars?” has provided the score for many memorable cinematic moments, but there are two from television that really capture the song’s feeling of unexplored possibility, the sense that anything could happen if you were able to see beyond the veil of reality.

David Bowie, legendary singer, songwriter, and actor, died at 69 years old on Sunday, following an 18-month battle with cancer.

There were many incredible things about Bowie, but one was his image. Throughout his career, he shifted his appearance to better match his music and mood. Helen Green, an illustrator, drew Bowie’s hairstyles in the years from 1964, before his rise to fame, to 2014. She then compiled all of the drawings into this single beautiful GIF:

David Bowie, one of the most influential recording artists of all time, passed away on January 10, 2016, after a battle with throat cancer. He was 69.

The following statement was posted to Bowie’s social media accounts.