British rock legend David Bowie has passed away. David Bowie passed away (15 photos) Musicians and experts about Bowie
With reference to the musician's press service, and later confirmed on the official Facebook. “Bowie passed away peacefully today after a valiant 18 month battle with cancer. We understand that many of you are experiencing this loss, but please do not disturb the family at this sad moment, ”the message says.
Actor, producer, artist, poet, musician - Bowie was a person and artist who is incredibly difficult to overestimate, rather, on the contrary, there is a great danger of forgetting or not taking into account something important.
To make it clearer, in recent weeks a site has become popular where anyone can enter their age and find out what David Bowie did during these years. The most active users are already complaining about the depression caused by understanding the emptiness of their existence.
And yet. David Robert Jones was born in London's Brixton. Choreography teachers noted that nine-year-old David had unusual abilities for music and choreography, and then he heard Elvis and Little Richard and began to buy rock and roll vinyl records. Bowie's pseudonym appeared in 1966 - it was then that his single "Can" t Keep Thinking About Me" was released. Jones became Bowie both to avoid confusion with Davy Jones from The Monkees, and out of love for Mick Jagger, who was then starting: "jagger ” - a knife translated from Old English, “bowie” - a model of an army knife, which got its name in honor of the Louisiana adventurer and revolutionary James Bowie.
The first album, called "David Bowie", was released in 1967 and did not gain much success. David, who managed to be a vocalist in several rhythm and blues groups, on his debut solo album immediately embarked on experiments to mix the manner of pop crooners like, theatricality, psychedelia and folk. The mixture was damp, but two years later sprouted in the form of the first masterpiece "Space Oddity" - a song about the infinity of the universe and cosmic loneliness, which became an instant classic.
Another - the most grandiose - breakthrough happened three years later, when the album "The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars" was released.
Bowie not only reincarnated into an absolutely organic image of an alien, he combined his achievements in the field of music, choreography and visual effects into one, making rock concert goers believe that the possibilities of a person on stage are virtually limitless. From a musical point of view, "Ziggy Stardust", along with records, became the most important milestone of glam rock, which to this day remains one of the favorite musical styles of art freaks around the world. And most importantly, Bowie was able to recall the true meaning of the word "artist" - a person of art, not tied to a specific type of art. In the following decades, he invariably only confirmed this status, expanding the sphere of cultural influence for reasons of personal interest and craving for experiments.
The main occupation all these years, of course, was music.
Bowie said that the craving for disguise, for which he earned the title of rock chameleon, was always an internal need, a reflection of his spiritual movements.
The same as changing cities: the artist moved from London to the USA, from where, driven by the fight against drug addiction, he fled to Berlin. And then back to New York, where he lived in recent years.
Bowie's images on stage over the years have already been the subject of some serious research: following Ziggy onto the stage, the skinny soul and funk hero of the Young Americans era, Gaunt White Duke ("Station to Station"), an equal member of the Tin quartet Machine, industrial decadent ("Outside") and man of no age during the last tours with the albums "Heathen", "Hours" and "Reality".
In 2004, the Reality tour was cut short due to a heart attack that David suffered on stage at the German Hurricane Festival. After an emergency operation, the musician did not resume touring and in subsequent years only occasionally appeared as a guest - mainly in the company of his young favorites like Arcade Fire or TV On The Radio. In an interview, Bowie said that he always felt like an outsider and never a show business hero, a pop party character. In recent years, he has fully confirmed these words, almost not appearing at public events, with the rarest exception, like the premieres of paintings by his son (named Zoey Bowie at birth).
On his 66th birthday, January 8, 2013, David broke his years of silence as suddenly as he disappeared from the radar.
A video for the new song "Where Are We Now" appeared on the network, and in March of the same year the album "The Next Day" was released, almost unanimously accepted by critics and fans as Bowie's return to the game. Nevertheless, the artist refused tours and interviews on principle, appearing only in a few music videos for songs from the record.
The announcement in late 2015 of the release of a new 28th album titled "Blackstar" came as a surprise, especially given that Bowie was previously reported to be engrossed in songwriting for the musical "Lazarus", which premiered in December on Broadway. The album, which became the last for the musician, was recorded with the participation of several New York jazzmen and has already been recognized by critics as one of the best in the musician's discography, the most avant-garde and bold in many years. When the record was released, just a couple of days ago, after the eerie video for the song "Lazarus" with Bowie chained to a hospital bed, no one (except David himself) could imagine that this work would be the last for the great musician.
The departure of the musician from life made me remember about his travels to Russia
His death clearly took everyone by surprise. The musician's illness was a mystery to the public, and Bowie himself has long lived with the reputation of a man who, like a cat, will have at least nine lives. Eleven years ago, he survived a heart attack and a complex operation, but even after that he looked, in his own words, like "a mere mortal, but with the makings of a superman."
Bowie's new album gave his fans hope for a tour that hadn't been seen in years, but instead, Blackstar, released on the day of the musician's 69th birthday and two days before his death, was a farewell gesture. And it turned out, too, in the spirit of Bowie. Only seven songs, but a lot of room for imagination. Industrial and airy folk, jazz and hip-hop, surrealism and melodic clarity. Only Bowie could put it all together, and it's very sad that the musician did this for the last time.
Musicians and experts about Bowie
Alexander Kushnir, music producer and writer : “Bowie was an artist to the core, thinking not only about music, lyrics, but also about visuals, image. He was often called the “new wave chameleon” because he foresaw styles: he was one of the pioneers of glam rock, then switched to “semi-punk”, experimented with triphop, electronics.
David started when the Beatles actually broke up. I see this as a sacred, metaphysical meaning, passing the baton. At this point, at the turn of 1969-1970, two new artists appeared on the scene - Elton John and David Bowie. One era has ended and another has begun.
David was perhaps the only non-communist Western artist who in the 20th century tried to love Russia with both mind and heart. These are not just pretty words. Everyone knows the story when in three weeks he crossed our entire country from the Far East to the Trans-Siberian Express, watching either the tundra or the taiga through the window.
This is the whole Bowie: the purpose of such an act was exclusively emotions, impressions. When the train stopped in (then - in Sverdlovsk), David decided to take a picture with the local police, almost hitting the police station. It is paradoxical that the artist was saved by half-KGB semi-conductors who let him onto the outgoing train. The first date ended with a visit to Red Square. The history of the trip was not advertised in any way, because at that time there was no particular love for the USSR in the West. David traveled solely for himself, for personal experience. Photos from the trip began to surface only decades later.
In 1996, at a David Bowie concert in the Kremlin, the “party elite” took the front rows. The hall was dead, cold. They say that when the artist then went into the dressing room, he almost cried and said that he would never return to Russia. He tried his best to love and understand our country, but he failed.
Nevertheless, he had a huge impact on some Russian musicians. For example, Grebenshchikov's early lyrics were written with an eye on the works of Bob Dylan and David Bowie."
Philip Solovyov ("NonAdaptants") : “Within the genre in which we work, the influence of David Bowie on our work cannot be denied. I always had an ambiguous attitude towards him, although he occupied a special place in my life. The image of the androgyne on the stage of the 1970s, erasing the sexual hierarchy, was truly revolutionary for that time.
His most significant work for me was the Berlin Trilogy (a series of David Bowie albums recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno in the late 1970s), especially Heroes, which also featured King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. This is the pinnacle of David Bowie's work as an artist.
His main influence on the era is that, having combined in his work the musical and poetic techniques of Syd Barrett and the Velvet Underground, he was a conductor and popularizer of the underground trends of the late 60s in popular culture. Thus, he made a revolution, making the contemporary art of that time accessible to a wide audience, and not just to the demanding public!
Ruslana Sultanova (A la Ru) : “A lot of things are connected with the work of David Bowie for me. His music, lifestyle, and limitless talent taught him not to be afraid of experiments, inspired him to take action, launched some kind of electric charges that helped him not to give up in his business.
Every concert, every change in his style was an incredible experience that could even raise my temperature. He is a show in itself, a real musician and artist, someone who has the right to stand on stage and do anything with us.
He passed away so beautifully that there are no words, two days after he released an amazing album on his birthday, which became the last in his discography and the first in many years. That's all David is, "a mere mortal with the makings of a superman" who is still alive and will live for a long time, because of the music, because of Bowie.
Gaya Harutyunyan ("Children of Picasso") : “Have you noticed that the great ones leave in packs? I discovered Bowie late. Only a couple of years ago I began to hear and understand him. He simply followed the path of Pablo Picasso. All the time it was reset and updated, searched and did not fade, put on new masks and selected new roles.
His androgynous timbre of voice and stage image both repelled me and attracted me. I think the hallmark of a great artist is a sphere of influence. For several decades, almost half a century, he watered his favorite tree called Glam Rock and influenced several generations of musicians.
Even Nirvana wrote a great cover of his song The Man Who Sold The World, and his collaborations with Iggy Pop and Freddie Mercury are still very relevant today. I think Bowie's departure is as beautiful and eccentric as his life.
Knowing that he has little time left, he performs 3 actions in a row: celebrates his birthday, releases a new album and ... dies. And I'm sure that his new album Black Star, to which he attracted precisely jazz musicians from, will entail a whole echelon of similar free-jazz experiments in the world.
British rock singer David Bowie has died at the age of 70. On January 8, the singer celebrated his 69th birthday and released a new album, Blackstar (“Black Star”). The musician passed away after an 18-month battle with cancer, the news of his death appeared on the official website, which says: "While many of you sympathize with the loss, we ask that you respect the privacy of the family during the time of grief." Recall the work of David Bowie will help us interesting facts from his biography.
1. Bowie claimed that at the age of five he had a "terrible case" associated with tea - since then he never drank it.
2. David graduated from school with a mark "0" in art.
3. At the age of eight, Bowie had a dream of becoming a saxophonist. This prompted him to buy the first saxophone, although it was made of pink plastic. For the sake of such a purchase, little Dave had to carry orders for the butcher shop. In 1961, his mother gave him a better quality alto saxophone.
4. Bowie's right pupil is always dilated - this is the result of his school fight with a friend named George Underwood. The quarrel was, of course, because of the girl. Doctors feared that he would lose his sight, but they were able to perform a series of operations and prevent blindness. It was not possible to completely restore his vision - as a result of the injury, Bowie had a defective perception of the depth of the field of vision. Having become famous, the artist stated that although he could see with his injured eye, the perception of color was lost (a brown background is constantly present). The pupil of the injured eye became mydriatic, giving the impression of different eye colors. Despite the fight, Underwood and Bowie remained good friends.
5. Bowie is a multi-instrumentalist. He plays guitar, piano, harpsichord, harmonica, mellotron, stylophone, vibraphone, koto, drums and percussion.
6. Being a big fan of Mick Jagger, Bowie learned that "jagger" means "knife" in Old English, so David adopted a similar pseudonym (Bowie knife is a type of hunting knife named after Texas Revolution hero Jim Bowie). David Bowie's birthday is January 14, 1966. It was on this day that he first appeared under that name with The Lower Third on the cover of the record "Can't Help Thinking About Me".
7. "I really wanted to become famous, but did not know how to do it, and throughout the 1960s I tried everything I could - in theater, visual arts and music," Bowie admitted in an interview in the eighties. Undoubtedly, at that time the artist's work was strongly influenced by Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett, who left the band after recording the first album. "There was something out of this world in Side, and it attracted me a lot. He looked like Peter Pan," the musician said.
8. In 1974, Michael Jackson attended a Bowie concert. Later, he spoke about the strange movements of the musician, referring to the moonwalk. Initially, this dance appeared in Bowie's pantomime plays of the sixties.
9. The small Hansa recording studio, which used to overlook the Berlin Wall, has become one of the favorite places for tourists, although it continues to work as a studio. All because of Bowie, who recorded there the so-called "Berlin trilogy" ("Low" - "Heroes" - "Lodger").
10. Beginning September 24, 1980, Bowie performed on Broadway for three months in a production of The Elephant Man. During this period, his friend and colleague John Lennon was murdered by crazed fanatic Mark Chapman. This event made an extremely difficult impression on David - he not only lost a close friend, but also realized that he himself was close to death. Chapman attended the play, photographed Bowie at the stage door, and shot Lennon shortly thereafter. He told the police that if he had not been able to kill John, he would have returned to the theater and shot David.
11. In David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Through the Fire (1992), Bowie played the mysterious FBI agent Philip Jeffries. In the picture, he appears only for a few seconds, but the impression is indelible. "It was a dream. We're living in a dream," he says, drawing viewers into the heart of the intricate puzzle of one of arthouse's preeminent masters.
12. Bowie has been to Moscow three times. He first visited the capital in 1973 on his way from Japan to Europe. At that time, he was afraid to fly on airplanes and preferred to use land transport. In order to get to Moscow, he had to take a ship from Yokohama to Nakhodka, and from there to the Trans-Siberian Railway. On April 30, 18 days after leaving, Bowie arrived in Moscow for three days. Then he visited the May Day parade, visited the Armory and GUM. Bowie's second trip to Moscow, now with Iggy Pop, took place in early April 1976. Then the border guards confiscated from him Nazi literature prohibited for import. The third trip took place in June 1996, this time with a concert at the State Kremlin Palace. Prior to the press conference, a fan meeting was arranged with Bowie in his room. Fans told him about the poor acoustics in the Kremlin and the high cost of tickets. Bowie immediately gave them to those who did not have enough money. On June 18, a concert took place and David was terribly dissatisfied with it - because of the sitting audience and the strange organization of the hall. Then he promised that he would never come to Russia again.
13. In 2000, as a result of a survey in which more than 190 thousand people took part, the song "Under Pressure", joint with Queen, took tenth place in the list of the best songs of the millennium.
14. Of contemporary artists, Bowie preferred the work of Rufus Wainwright, Placebo, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Arcade Fire.
15. In 2009, German scientist Peter Jaeger discovered a new rare species of spider and decided to name it after Bowie. A representative of the species, called Heteropoda davidbowie, was discovered by a researcher in Malaysia. According to the arachnologist, he was inspired by the "Glass Spider" tour and the song "Ziggy Stardust".
The crack for all fans of rock music, cinema and art in general was the news that director Duncan Jones shared with the world. At the seventieth year of his life, just three days ago, celebrating his 69th birthday, his father, a legendary man, musician, actor and producer, died - David Bowie .
David Robert Jones(this was the name given to the future star at birth) showed extraordinary abilities for music and acting, without even taking a capacious and hooligan pseudonym Bowie- in honor of the Louisiana adventurer and revolutionary James Bowie. And although the young singer's early experiments in mixing several genres were not successful, the views of critics and the public were already riveted to the young man, who was not afraid to appear on stage in the form of a skinny alien Ziggy Stardust or haggard White Duke. The art freak proved with all his appearance that he wanted to spit on borders and prohibitions, that for him there were no compromises and conventions, and on stage his powers became almost limitless.
It is not surprising that prone to theatricalization of his performances, which the artist stuffed with intricate choreographic inserts and visual effects, Bowie did not bypass the film industry. Certainly, David will go down in history primarily thanks to his revolutionary musical masterpieces, which in some years the fruitful author released dozens. However, those who have ever seen Bowie on the screen, will not dare to say that this area of \u200b\u200bhis activity was a side.
It is very symbolic that the first full-fledged work in the cinema for David became a role in the film "The Man Who Fell to Earth". By the way, for her 1977 actor received an award Saturn". But perhaps the most famous for a wide audience of his images are the vampire. John from "Hunger" Pontius Pilate from The Last Temptation of Christ, FBI agent Philip Jeffries from Twin Peaks: Fire Follow Me, pop artist Andy Warhol from Basquiat, physicist Nikola Tesla from The Prestige and, of course, the goblin king Jareth from "Labyrinth". It is not known where the heads of various awards professionals looked - from David in the last of the listed tapes, you simply can’t look away. With his magnetic gaze, feline grace and a voice penetrating into the very heart (the musician composed and performed several compositions especially for the tape), he frightens and enchants at the same time. However, as in most of his performances.
Cinephiles will remember and Bowie-composer of soundtracks - his songs sounded in 452 tapes, and in 1983 he was nominated for golden globe"For the musical accompaniment to the fantasy drama Cat People". Also, hits like “ Space Oddity”, “Heroes”, “Life on Mars?”, “Fame”, “Ashes to Ashes" And " Young Americans” still haunt filmmakers and are chosen by them without hesitation as a win-win sound decoration for their projects.
