The way I feel about David Bowie was best expressed by a former officemate of mine: “Ikoon is er niet meer”. Idiomatically, that’s “An icon is gone”, but I think it sounds better in the literal Dutch: “Icon is there no more”. I don’t want to underestimate his continuing creativity, but what he’ll be remembered for is what he’s already given us; even if the just-released album or the ones he would have released were to become beloved classics, they’d be just a cherry on top of the legacy he’s already laid down.
My favorite song of his is Major Tom; it came out when I was 2. My favorite performance wasn’t one of his own songs, but his collaboration with Mick Jagger on Dancing in the Streets at Live Aid; it was witty and rocking and energetic. That was in 1985. 69 is younger than you want to see someone die, but it’s at least time to make a lot of music. There’s also the fact that he changed the world for some people in a very real way; whether or not he actually was gay or even bi in the end – he said himself that was a mistake – in the years he was searching and figuring himself out, he was open in a way hardly anyone was, at that level of fame. He was weird and skinny and androgynous and out about being gay, and he was also famous, talented, and cooler than anyone else ever – it’s easy to see how that could tear the world apart and rebuild it in a better way for some kids trying to figure themselves out. That’s important and lasting, but again, the legacy is there and it’s solid. So my regret as a fan is not so much for what might have been, but for seeing a colossus crumble, an icon gone that’s been there my whole life.
I’m sad on a human level; 69 is barely at the threshold of old age, and liver cancer is a sucky way to die. What made me saddest of all, when reading about him on Wikipedia, was to learn that he and Iman have a 15-year-old. To the rest of the world, Bowie is Ziggy Stardust, glam rocker, superstar chameleon, icon. To Lexi Jones, presumably, he’s just Dad. So she’s spent a significant part of her young life watching him deal with cancer – 18 months is a long time when you’re 15 – and now she’s lost her dad entirely. There’s a hole left in the world when an icon dies, that hurts all of us but my warmest thoughts right now are with those who have lost a big part of their world.