Rock icon Davie Bowie dies at 69

MANILA, Philippines – Rock icon David Bowie passed away after more than a year of battle against cancer. He was 69.

 

A Facebook entry of the artist's official page made the announcement Monday at around 6:00 a.m. in London (3 p.m. in Manila).

 

Representative Steve Martin said early Monday that Bowie died "peacefully"  and was surrounded by family.

 

 

Bowie, who just celebrated his birthday two days ago, released "Blackstar," his 25th album in a legacy that spanned almost half a century.

 

Born in South London as David Robert Jones, he went on to take up the name "Ziggy Stardust" that paved the way for his 1972 album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars."

 

Within that long, yet stellar career, were a myriad of NME citations, Grammy plums snared (including a lifetime achievement award) and his 1996 naming into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

 

He had some of his biggest successes in the early 1980s with the stylist "Let's Dance," and a massive American tour.

"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."

At a concert for rescue workers after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, his performance of "Heroes" was a highlight.

"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 kept a low profile in recent years after reportedly suffering a heart attack in the 2000s. He made a moody album three years ago called "The Next Day" — his first recording in a decade which was made in secret in New York City. "Blackstar," which earned positive reviews from critics, represented yet another stylistic shift, as he gathered jazz players to join him.

He felt uneasy about some of his greatest material, once embarking on a "greatest hits" tour saying it would be the last time performing much of his old material. He later relented, however.

"I'm not a natural performer," he said in the 2002 interview. "I don't enjoy performing terribly much. Never have. I can do it and, if my mind's on the situation, do it quite well. But five or six shows in, I'm dying to get off the road and go back into the studio."

British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that Bowie's death is "a huge loss." He wrote he had grown up listening to and watching Bowie and called the singer a "master of reinvention" and a pop genius who kept on getting it right.

Kanye West said on Twitter that Bowie "was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime."

Bowie was married to international supermodel Iman since 1992. - with the Associated Press