By: Peter Zeng
When I say English music, what do you think? Well now, you probably are thinking about David Bowie. The famous English songwriter, musician, painter, actor etc… recently passed on January 10th, 2016. This multitalented man’s death came at a time when the world had just been enlightened further with the release of his new album Blackstar. Interestingly, many of the songs in this album hinted at Bowie’s death and it, as CNN put it, “reveals a man who appears to be grappling with his own mortality.” Bowie’s millions of fans around the world have since gathered to pay tribute to the ultimate artist through concerts.
The beloved sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live paid further tribute to Bowie by having a former cast member, Fred Armisen, come onto the show and talk about a certain episode in 1979 when David Bowie was a musical guest, “When I was in high school and living in Long Island, I stayed up to see David Bowie play on Saturday Night Live. watching him, for me, was a life-changing experience… David Bowie transformed whatever space he was in, whatever medium he was using, and that night for me, he transformed live television.” This fan’s admiration for Bowie may represent the rest of his fan’s passion for David’s work and goes to show what a great artist he was.
Bowie as a musician- which is arguably the hobby that Bowie had the most passion for- was always progressive. He started out playing rock and roll, but eventually spread out to many different genres such as funk, pop, electronic, and many more. Bowie’s more agreeable traits included his willingness to accept people of all creeds, sexual orientations, religions, and he was generally very liberal. David Bowie was truly a cool kid and he will be missed.
