In Memoriam: Those We Have Lost from the Music Industry

[formerlyfreedom]

This is the spot to discuss those we've lost from the music industry; performers, musicians, composers, producers, etc. Please check with the forum mod before starting any individual topics for someone we lose.

[ESS]

I love Whitney! Anyone else?

 

Edited December 12, 2014 by LegaspiWeaver

[WhitneyWhit]

Yes! She had her problems but that voice should be one of the wonders of the world. I was so heartbroken the day she died and I still miss her.

 

I love listening to this, it's an a cappella version of "How Will I Know"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZGVUpXQHV4

[ESS]

Yes she'll always be remember as The Voice because she was just that! I miss her everyday. I just loove this song too but it's so sad the first time I listened to it I was quite emotional I supposed I shouldn't have listened to it..Of course the video doesn't help either the person who made it made it so sad with the clips they choose for it.

 

 

I also loove this performance she did back in 2009 again I was crying when I was watching it..it's one of her best and my favs

 

Edited December 13, 2014 by LegaspiWeaver

[Kromm]

BB King

Also covered in the Celeb death megathread, but he's such a huge part of music history I thought he deserved his own topic too.

[FormerMod-a1]

He does.  He will be missed.  He was so influential.  

[spaceytraci1208]

May he R.I.P :(

[revbfc]

A true original. He will be missed by all who love their music loud and fast.

[WendyCR72]

Never even knew he was sick. He battled cancer for 18 months. What a shock. And how ironic that he just released a new (and now his last) album!

[VCRTracking]

I'm in shock. He was a legend. Playing "Moonage Daydream" right now.

[TVFan17]

You know, I had actually heard something quite a while back about Bowie being sick, but no details -- and the weird thing is, I think it was actually more than 18 months ago.  I listen to the Howard Stern show on Sirius XM when I can, and I remember that he was either doing an interview with someone or he was talking about musicians to someone, and in passing -- almost like it was a slip of the tongue -- someone mentioned hearing that Bowie was sick and not doing well,  but whoever said it quickly threw in something to indicate that any further info was unknown and changed the subject right away.  The impression I got was that the info came from insiders -- friends or music industry people who knew it -- but that it was supposed to be kept quiet.

 

Sometime after that I remember either watching Fashion Police or looking at a picture of badly dressed celebrities in a magazine, and a picture of David Bowie wearing a terrible outfit popped up.  He didn't look well, and I remember thinking, "I guess he really is sick."

 

So I don't know why this "18 months" deal is what they're all sticking with in the press now, but my feeling is that Bowie was probably sick off and on for a while before that, and probably desperately tried to keep it quiet -- but it leaked out to some insiders and then trickled out to others.  Maybe he went into remission or something, and then the cancer came back?  Not sure.

 

But he was a true, bona fide icon and legend -- Bowie was someone that the rock guys looked up to, the punk guys looked up to, the metal guys looked up to, the new wave guys looked up to, etc.  He was very influential in the music industry.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Sherry67

[Gulftastic]

Terrible news to wake up to. They played 'Life On Mars' and I burst into tears. RIP Thin White Duke. No one as cool.

[Eucrid]

Just remember the world is 4.5 billion years old and you were lucky enough to exist at the same time as David Bowie.

 

Not an original thought of my own but its making me feel better so I thought I'd share it.

[Shannon L.]

Sad news, indeed.  69 isn't even really that old these days, either.  While I liked a few of his songs, I wasn't a huge fan of his music, but I recognize and respect what a force he was in the industry.  RIP, sir--you are the true definition of a legend.

[AimingforYoko]

Fave Bowie Album? Probably Station to Station. But I unabashedly love Let's Dance. Yes, it's purposefully made to be his most accessible, doesn't mean it fails to kick ass.

[UYI]

His birthday was literally three days ago; two days before he died. RIP. :(

[CaughtOnTape]

One by one, my childhood is dying.

 

So sad.  

[DollEyes]

Chameleon. Genius. Icon. Legend. These words can't even begin to describe the brilliance that was the late, great David Bowie. He is, was and always will be in a class by himself. At the risk of aging myself, my favorite Bowie persona was The Thin, White Duke of the mid 1970s, because he looked so elegant and the music ("Fame," "Golden Years" & "Young Americans," among others) is as cool as he was.

 

  Bowie's talents weren't restricted to music. He could act, too, whether it was playing The Elephant Man on Broadway, a dying vampire in The Hunger, Gareth in Labyrinth or the title character in The Man Who Fell To Earth. He even proved that he could tap dance in Absolute Beginners.

 

  That Bowie was making music until the end of his life, was happily married for over 20 years and maintained his privacy despite having cancer until the day he died proved just how extraordinary he was. My deepest condolences to Iman and his children. When he was asked about the afterlife, Bowie said, "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring." Damn right, it won't.

 

RIP, Mr. Bowie. You were many things, but "boring" was never one of them.

Edited January 16, 2016 by DollEyes

[Blergh]

He had the distinction of starring in the flop "Just a Gigolo" in 1978 in which he called his '30 Elvis movies' due to the scathing reception. HOWEVER; it was notable for being the last movie in which Marlene Dietrich appeared in and she sang the title song almost as an autobiographical ode to herself and a warning to Bowie himself. -even though the performers never actually met (they mostly filmed in what was then West Germany and had a mockup made of a set in Paris for Dietrich's scenes then edited the parts together to make it appear as though they interacted). Considering how he DID have a stable life the last 20 years (his creativity not a wit daunted), I wonder if he may have actually listened to the song's lyrics and Dietrich's poignant rendition and that may have helped spur him away from the cliff edge he'd been dangling on for so long? Good for him that he KEPT doing what he loved and created to the very end while being a vital center of a family AND good that he was able to deal with the cancer on his own terms rather than have a bunch of 'Last Sad Days of Bowie' junk foisted on him. RIP, Major Tom.

[littlewonder]

I am completely gutted.  Before I knew what queerness was, or that I didn't fit into a gender, or that I could grow up and move to a big city, or that I could like girls and boys... I had Bowie on tv/radio looking and sounding different and making me feel safe for reasons my little kid brain didn't understand yet.

 

I love his music, of course.  I can recite Labyrinth by heart, of course.  But I want to emphasize that he saved queer lives just by being visible.

[Dandesun]

As much as he has absolutely been a part of the world for my entire existence... as dreadful as cancer is and how he has battled this for so long... I don't feel the immense tragedy that I did for, say, Robin Williams.

 

The reason? I honestly feel that David Bowie transcended in ways that most of us mere mortals do not. Was he actually part of planet Earth? He seemed to be Otherworldly always. It's like he was called elsewhere... and how lucky were we to share a planet with him for as long as we got to?

 

Maybe it hasn't fully hit me yet. He was such a true artist... absolute made of stardust... and, again, transcendent.

 

That being said, I'm listening to Bowie all fucking day because of all the reasons. "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring."

[amaranta]

I loved him and his music, and was downright giddy when I download the new album Friday night. Now, well, this hurts.  

 

RIP David Bowie.  You will be missed.

 

A very early Bowie tune, one of my favorites (of which there are many.)  A lovely and poignant song.

 

[UYI]

From The Breakfast Club:

 

 

And I always think of this song because of Clueless. It's from the scene where Cher is picking out her school clothes on her computer.

 

[Enigma X]

I think someone wrote on their Twitter account something like "He had swag when it was still called Swagger." Indeed, he did. I discovered him, and a bevy of '70 rock artists, in 1980 when I was five. Boy, without Bowie the way I viewed the world would have been narrow and dull.

 

Thank you, David. You will be missed.

[Demented Daisy]

 

If this doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you have no soul.

[Humbugged]

 

 

Sometime after that I remember either watching Fashion Police or looking at a picture of badly dressed celebrities in a magazine, and a picture of David Bowie wearing a terrible outfit popped up.  He didn't look well, and I remember thinking, "I guess he really is sick."

 

So I don't know why this "18 months" deal is what they're all sticking with in the press now, but my feeling is that Bowie was probably sick off and on for a while before that, and probably desperately tried to keep it quiet -- but it leaked out to some insiders and then trickled out to others.  Maybe he went into remission or something, and then the cancer came back?  Not sure.

 

He had a series of heart attacks over the past few years as well as then getting cancer .

 

He was diagnosed around the time his daughter-in-law was getting the all clear after having breast cancer (she had to have a double mastectomy .His son Duncan (who directed Source Code and the upcoming Warcraft movie) must have felt like he had dodged a bullet only for a house to fall on him

[roamyn]

Thanx DD.

a great way to honor both icons who left too soon.

[WendyCR72]

My favorite Bowie moment:

 

[Readalot]

http://www.queerty.com/rip-david-bowie-heres-his-isolated-vocal-track-from-under-pressure-with-freddie-mercury-20160111

Not sure how to link but this gives me the chills. Haunting.

[JAYJAY1979]

Labyrinth...an under rated cult classic. RIP David bowie.

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2016/01/labyrinth-david-bowie-cult-classic/

[spaceytraci1208]

David Bowie was a cool dude and is sorely missed...he left an undeniable mark on the art of music that will live beyond all of us.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Re-posting this from a friend's blog:

 

 

https://thebookselfblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/bowie.jpg

[Jeebus Cripes]

As much as he has absolutely been a part of the world for my entire existence... as dreadful as cancer is and how he has battled this for so long... I don't feel the immense tragedy that I did for, say, Robin Williams.

 

The reason? I honestly feel that David Bowie transcended in ways that most of us mere mortals do not. Was he actually part of planet Earth? He seemed to be Otherworldly always. It's like he was called elsewhere... and how lucky were we to share a planet with him for as long as we got to?

 

Maybe it hasn't fully hit me yet. He was such a true artist... absolute made of stardust... and, again, transcendent.

 

That being said, I'm listening to Bowie all fucking day because of all the reasons. "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring."

 

This is where I'm at today. Last night, I was devastated. I woke up depressed, then gave myself a firm kick in the ass. Enough tears and sadness. He brought me joy throughout my entire life. His talent was and is pure magic to me. I'm glad we shared time on this planet together, even if I was never in the same room with him.

[DollEyes]

  Since the Grammys are over a month away, I think that's plenty of time to prepare a kickass Bowie tribute covering every phase of his career, from "Space Oddity" to "Lazarus." Because Bowie influenced/was influenced by many kinds of music, whether it was rock, pop, soul, punk, new wave, techno, grunge, jazz or hip-hop, the tribute should include artists from different genres, from his friends (Mick Jagger, Sir Paul McCartney) to those who were inspired by him (Lady Gaga) to those who inspired him, such as Kendrick Lamar, who according to Bowie, helped inspire Blackstar, his last album. Bowie deserves nothing less.

[ketchuplover]

His name cuts like a knife

[kittykat]

A day later and I'm still torn up.  The only man who could turn his own death into performance art.  He left as he lived.  This one definitely hurt more than Lemmy and Weiland.

[MisterGlass]

I knew I liked David Bowie but I didn't realize how much until the last 24 hours.  There are so many songs that I heard and liked on the radio before I realized they were all by him.  I'm sad to say I don't own any of his albums (to be rectified), but I suppose it says something about his pervasiveness that even so I know so many of his works. 

 

Labyrinth terrified me when I was very young, but I developed a fondness for it and especially for David Bowie.  He knew how to be theatrical, intense, funny, and touching across media.

 

One last mention for his role as Tesla in The Prestige.

[DiabLOL]

I'm not doing well with this at all. If it weren't for my dog and the fact that I finally got some badly needed shelving so I can get a ridiculous amount of boxed stuff off the floor, I'm sure I'd be curled up in bed crying most of the time. The fact that it's freezing out isn't helping. I dread running errands and hearing a Bowie song in a drugstore or the supermarket. I just know I'll lose my shit completely and sob uncontrollably in public. 

It's not just his music but his persona and all that it signified that changed my life and helped me form my identity from adolescence to the present day. During times when those around me had only scorn and judgement when what I really needed was their acceptance and support, he was always there showing me that it was ok to be me.

I honestly never thought he'd die.

[BW Manilowe]

Apparently, when the new Billboard charts come out this week, Bowie's last album Blackstar, released last Friday--his 69th birthday & 2 days before his passing--will have dethroned Adele's 25 at #1 on the Hot 200 Albums Chart. It will be his first #1 album in the US. And it's sad he didn't live to see that milestone come to pass/it took his death for that to happen.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I am still struggling with David Bowie's passing and have been listening to his music pretty much non-stop at night when I get home from work.  Right now I'm playing "Ashes To Ashes" and as usual I'm blown away by the depth of and in his voice.  He wasn't my favorite artist as that would be the Beatles but Bowie was right up there in the top five.

 

Not sure I can listen to his new album in its entirety yet.

 

I was fortunate to see Bowie live in 1987 on his Glass Spiders tour.  I know it was considered a critical disaster but I loved it, especially from our second row center seats.

[BW Manilowe]

Since the Grammys are over a month away, I think that's plenty of time to prepare a kickass Bowie tribute covering every phase of his career, from "Space Oddity" to "Lazarus." Because Bowie influenced/was influenced by many kinds of music, whether it was rock, pop, soul, punk, new wave, techno, grunge, jazz or hip-hop, the tribute should include artists from different genres, from his friends (Mick Jagger, Sir Paul McCartney) to those who were inspired by him (Lady Gaga) to those who inspired him, such as Kendrick Lamar, who according to Bowie, helped inspire Blackstar, his last album. Bowie deserves nothing less.

As far as I know, this linked Tweet, from a NYC-based (mostly online) gossip writer, is accurate insofar as the Grammys are probably planning a tribute to Bowie this year (just as they did 1 for Whitney Houston when she tragically died right before 1 year's ceremonies, only probably "bigger" for Bowie as they have more time to plan his); I'm just not certain how many of the artists he mentions will actually end up participating.

https://mobile.twitter.com/NaughtyNiceRob/status/686964442958053376?p=v

Edited January 14, 2016 by BW Manilowe

[DollEyes]

Another great quality of David Bowie's was his humility. According to a report on The Insider, Bowie was offered a Knighthood by the British government in 2003 and he turned it down.

 

David Bowie will be on the covers of Time  & Entertainment Weekly.

Edited January 14, 2016 by DollEyes

[MyAimIsTrue]

I am a nearly 20 year subscriber to Entertainment Weekly and will probably not renew later this year because I've really aged out of the magazine and have no interest in what they focus on anymore (Adele, Star Wars, action hero movies and sequels, none of that shit interests me).  That being said I'm very glad I'll be receiving an issue with Bowie on the cover even if I'm not happy about the reason why.

[AimingforYoko]

This has been making the rounds on the 'net this week, David Bowie taking fledgling MTV to the woodshed:

[Jeebus Cripes]

I honestly never thought he'd die.

 

I know. It sounds ridiculous because obviously death is an inevitable part of life, but it never occurred to me that one day David Bowie would die too. When I saw his Blackstar video a few weeks ago, I remember thinking, "Wow, Bowie is finally aging" but still never imagined he'd pass away like everyone does eventually.

 

 

Apparently, when the new Billboard charts come out this week, Bowie's last album Blackstar, released last Friday--his 69th birthday & 2 days before his passing--will have dethroned Adele's 25 at #1 on the Hot 200 Albums Chart. It will be his first #1 album in the US. And it's sad he didn't live to see that milestone come to pass/it took his death for that to happen.

 

Damn, I assumed Let's Dance hit #1. This is bittersweet.

 

I was fortunate to see Bowie live in 1987 on his Glass Spiders tour.  I know it was considered a critical disaster but I loved it, especially from our second row center seats.

 

I'm listening to Never Let Me Down right now; critics are full of shit.

 

According to Yahoo:

Bowie Views Top Daily Record on Vevo, Beating Adele

https://www.yahoo.com/music/s/bowie-views-top-daily-record-vevo-beating-adele-120116706.html

Edited January 15, 2016 by Jeebus Cripes

[BW Manilowe]

Another great quality of David Bowie's was his humility. According to a report on The Insider, Bowie was offered a Knighthood by the British government in 2003 and he turned it down.

David Bowie will be on the covers of Time & Entertainment Weekly.

He's also on the cover of Billboard (& probably the "celebrity" weeklies, like People, & a number of the other entertainment industry publications which use cover photos & have cover stories, like The Hollywood Reporter).

[amaranta]

[Jeebus Cripes]

Great compilation from Conan showcasing Bowie's wonderful sense of humor:

[VCRTracking]

I also love when Bowie did the "Secrets" sketches on Conan(Conan would have various celebrities in a room reveal dark "secrets" to camera).

My favorite Bowie "secret" is

"I was on tour in the United States, back in '89, and we did a show in Cincinatti. During that show I shouted out "It's great to be in Cincinatti!" (pause) That was a lie.

Bowie starting to sing "Little fat man who sold his soul..." is one of the funniest moments on Extras.

[DollEyes]

 Two more Bowie acting roles were as a hitman in Into the Night, the John Landis film about an insomniac who winds up on an adventure with a gorgeous thief, played by Michelle Pfeiffer and in Basquiat as Andy Warhol, the latter of which prompted the film's star Jeffrey Wright to call Bowie the best rock star he's ever acted with.

 

One of my many favorite Bowie songs/videos is "Ashes To Ashes," which features an image of Bowie in a spacesuit, that has always made me imagine that it would be how Bowie would look in Heaven:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyMm4rJemtI

Edited January 16, 2016 by DollEyes