Musical genius David Bowie, who died yesterday, will be honored at an all-star concert at Carnegie Hall in March.
The concert was scheduled last week as a tribute to Bowie’s career but will now be a memorial, following Bowie’s death at age 69.
Bowie released his last album just last Friday. It includes a eulogy he wrote for himself, although hardly anyone knew at the time that he was dying.
Indeed, his death has taken the music world completely by surprise.
Bowie had apparently been battling cancer for 18 months. His last video clip shows him in a hospital bed. The lyrics include the line: “I’m in heaven.”
No-one outside his close circle of friends, family and collaborators suspected a thing.
Bowie’s death was mourned across the world yesterday, although nowhere as in Britain, where Underground stations were flooded with his music.
Staff at Kensington station quoted the singer on the station’s platform whiteboard, saying: “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”
Hollywood was also in mourning, since Bowie was a marvellous actor. His performance as a pale-faced prisoner buried up to his neck in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence still haunts all who watched.
Besides his musical brilliance, Bowie was a devoted family man. He was married for more than 20 years to model Iman, with whom he had a daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones.
Bowie has always said that he fell for Iman on sight, adding that he “was naming the children the first night we met”.
She was more cautious, saying: “I was not ready for a relationship. Definitely, I didn’t want to get into a relationship with somebody like him. But as I always said: I fell in love with David Jones. I did not fall in love with David Bowie. Bowie is just a persona. He’s a singer, an entertainer. David Jones is a man I met.”
Bowie also had a son, who was originally called Zowie Bowie but who is now known as Duncan Jones, from an earlier marriage to Angela Bowie.
Duncan confirmed his Dad’s death in New York, saying: “Very sorry and sad to say it’s true. I’ll be offline for a while. Love to all.”
One of Bowie’s closest friends and collaborators, Iggy Pop wrote on Twitter: “David’s friendship was the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person. He was the best there is.”
But it was Midge Ure, who helped organised the Live Aid concert in 1985, at which Bowie performed, who put the magnificence of Bowie’s career best, saying: “He gave us the point to run towards, we are all still trying to run towards that, everyone.”
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