On January 10, David Bowie passed away after an 18 month battle with cancer. The world mourned for the death of a legend with celebrations around the world to commemorate his life long career. People either discovered or revisited his music across the world. Senior Lupita Cortes said, “ I did not really know who he was, but after he died, I saw everything that he was to a lot people.”

 Bowie was known for constantly reinventing himself as a person and within his music.  As the son of a waitress and a nightclub owner, David Jones decided early on that he wanted to be a rockstar.  He started his musical career at 13 years old, learning saxophone. After he graduated grade school, he played in several bands and changed his name to David Bowie. He eventually signed a deal with Mercury Records and released Man of words, Man of music which included his hit “Space Oddity.” Following the release of “Space Oddity,” Bowie began to develop his most famous incarnation, Ziggy Stardust: an androgynous, bisexual rock star from another planet. He dyed his hair orange and began to wear more traditionally women’s style clothing. He called himself Ziggy Stardust and his backing band, the Spiders from Mars. Bowie also had a successful acting career with movies like Labyrinth and The Man Who Fell to Earth. He was such a big influence on the music industry that modern bands and singers such as The Arctic Monkeys, Lady Gaga, and Madonna have all drawn on his work to incorporate it into theirs. His last album, Black Star was announced two days before his death. His publicist posted on social media that it was Bowie’s parting gift to us.

 Even though his music and career were before most students’ time, parents and teachers have listened to Bowie for many, many years. “I used to listen to him in high school, I still can not believe he is gone,” said art teacher Ms. Moody. Senior Alicia Rosario said, “Regardless of whether or not you were a fan, it is still sad to see someone who had such a big impact on the music world die and no longer be there. It is like there is vacuum where he used to be.” With as many transformations he went through, you knew if it was okay for him to be David Bowie, it was okay for you to be yourself. As many people have said, the stars look a little different tonight.