Woke up to the unsettling news that rock icon David Bowie had died Sunday at the age of 69. That’s certainly not young, but after he’d just released his latest album, Blackstar, on Friday, his 69th birthday, it came as a shock to me. Bowie’s Twitter account confirmed his passing, confiding that he’d endured an “18-month battle with cancer” that was kept secret to the public.

My older siblings introduced me to Bowie’s music when I was just a kid, and Detroit rock radio pumped out Bowie music throughout my youth. I don’t know that I can add anything new and super insightful for longtime fans of his, but for those who just knew a few of his songs from the radio, he’s worth investigating. Bowie was a guy in perpetual change mode, a shape-shifting, trend-setting singer (multi octave)/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer whose career spanned over 4 decades.

I can’t think of any musician who could shift seamlessly from musical genre to genre, starting off with his Ziggy Stardust phase and Glam Rock, and changing personas as well. Sometimes his changing musical style wasn’t always embraced at first, but his music stood the test of time and still sounds good today. He had a tremendous vocal range. He was also a showman on stage and was innovative with costumes, props and live show sets, not to mention his cutting edge clothes style. He also was an accomplished actor who received rave reviews for his “Elephant Man” role on Broadway and for his work in the movie, “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

Bowie left a legacy of rock hits and strong studio albums. He’ll be missed and not soon forgotten.

Doc Watson