Prophetic Song....Lazarus...A Goodbye from David Bowie

David Bowie's album Blackstar was released two days before his death, and was intended as a "parting gift" to the world according to his producer Tony Visconti.

One song on the album, Lazarus, could be considered the singer's epitaph.

Visconti wrote on Facebook: "His death was no different from his life - a work of art. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it."

David Bowie was aged 69 and was suffering from cancer. The influential musician had a career spanning five decades. He made ' being weird' wonderful and cool.

Born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, Bowie's first release was Liza Jane/Louie Louie Go Home in June 1964, under the name of Davie Jones.

But Bowie began his professional music career in a more sedate band, the Konrads, seen here in 1963.

Bowie adopted many guises throughout his career, his best known is probably his glam rock alter ego created for the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, in 1972.

 

Bowie's 1971 Hunky Dory included the haunting Life on Mars? and Oh, You Pretty Things and redefined serious rock for the1970s generation.

 

Bowie married Angie Barnett in 1970 with whom he had a son, Zowie (now film director Duncan Jones).


 
Bowie's last performance as Ziggy Stardust, in 1973, was known as "the retirement gig" - many thought he was ending his music career, but it was just the Ziggy persona he was leaving behind.


 

 Having killed off Ziggy, 1973 brought Aladdin Sane, which cemented Bowie's reputation in the United States. Songs like Cracked Actor explored the dark, seedy side of fame, while Jean Genie was an old-fashioned rocker. As well as writing and performing, Bowie now branched out, producing Lou Reed's Transformer album and writing and producing Mott the Hoople's hit single, All the Young Dudes.



Bowie's look and sound changed considerably over the years, including for his album Diamond Dogs in 1974.



Many musicians worked with Bowie during his career, including Iggy Pop, pictured with him in 1977.


 
The pop star also took on several acting roles, performing on Broadway in The Elephant Man in 1980.


 
Bowie also starred in the film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, which was well received by critics.

 He performed a duet with Mick Jagger, a cover version of Martha and the Vandellas' Dancin' in the Street, for the 1985 Band Aid project and Live Aid concert.


Bowie is believed to have sold about 140 million albums during his career and performed all around the world including here in Paris in 1991.



David Bowie and his wife Iman introduced their daughter Alexandria Zahra in a world exclusive in 2000

He headlined at the Glastonbury Festival in 2000.


In 2001 Bowie stared with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the film Zoolander, his penultimate appearance on the big screen.


 

 After a decade without a studio album he released The Next Day in 2013, surprising fans who thought he had retired. It became his first UK number one for 20 years.


 

David Bowie, 1947-2016.