Ten years since David Bowie’s death, his legacy remains undiminished

Time reports this week marks 10 years since the death of the musician, actor, unlikely internet pioneer, and occasional artist David Bowie; his final album, the masterly Blackstar, was released two days before he died. Bowie left 26 studio albums and a career marked by both towering highs and notable missteps.

His 1970s run — from The Man Who Sold the World through Scary Monsters, with peaks on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Station to Station and Low — established him as inimitable, while the mainstream turn of 1983's Let’s Dance and the 1987 Never Let Me Down drew criticism. There have been countless reissues, new biographies (including the author’s) and documentaries.

His songwriting could be crepuscular and enigmatic: "Space Oddity" is described as laden with sadness, poignancy and mystery, the young Bowie singing of Major Tom "drifting in a tin can" and wanting to tell his wife "I love her very much … she knows." He retired for much of a decade after an on-stage heart attack in 2004, returned with 2013's The Next Day (recorded in secrecy and revealed on his birthday, Jan.

Key Topics

Culture, David Bowie, Blackstar, Ziggy Stardust, Space Oddity, Let's Dance