RIP David Bowie

While I was being born in September 1967, David Bowie (real name David Jones) was 20 years old, and trying to make it big in music. Thrilled to receive a letter from an American fan who had actually heard his music, he penned this response.

I love this letter – it speaks to the humility, creativity and humour of the man who would go on to be one of The Greats. In the BBC’s 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29. Throughout his career, he sold an estimated 140 million records worldwide. In the UK, he was awarded nine Platinum album certifications, eleven Gold and eight Silver.

By the time I connected with rock music in my teens, Bowie was already a massive star. I came to know his earlier records (Space Oddity, Starman) by osmosis: his 70s music lives on. But his early 80s hits – Ashes to Ashes, Let’s Dance, Modern Love, China Girl, Under Pressure (with Queen), Dancing in the Street (with Jagger) – were part of my formative years. I used to tape his songs from the radio and play them over and over again on my small cassette player, loving his ragged voice. Unlike other 70s stars who faded with the decade, I never heard anyone suggest that Bowie was uncool or past it.

Why? Because of his talent, his freshness and, critically, his ability to reinvent himself and to innovate. He was an artist, in every sense of the word. In all the comments I’ve read about him over the last 24 hours, innovation is the word that comes up again and again. As our PM David Cameron put it: “he was a master of re-invention, who kept getting it right”.

I regret that I didn’t get to the ACMI retrospective of his life and music in Melbourne last year. I wanted to go, but other stuff kept getting in the way. It was brilliant, by all accounts. Bowie’s association with Australia goes back a long way – including the unforgettable ‘Let’s Dance’ video, shot in the Outback with Aboriginal leads – ground-breaking in its time. So much colour, so much life.

So sitting in Brisbane Airport yesterday evening and reading of his death, I heard myself gasp along with his millions of fans and supporters around the world. I broke the news to my husband by text, who replied, simply: “No!!!!” And arriving at work today, my Australian colleagues are as gutted as I am, confirming David Bowie’s global reach.

I am sad that, on the day we announced 2016 as the Year of Innovation for the UK in Australia, we lost one of our greatest musical innovators, and a fantastic cultural export.

British music is great, Bowie was great. RIP.