The sound of a text coming through woke me up at 2:15 in the morning…what was so important that it couldn’t wait until later?...it was either a wrong number—or it was bad news…

It was bad news…a friend in L.A. had just heard some awful information: David Bowie had died…

This wasn’t supposed to happen…Bowie was supposed to be one of the immortals, someone who would always be with us….after all, he’d been making music through six decades…

And yes, he’d been almost entirely out of sight for a decade, but we knew he was there…he released a surprise album in 2013 to much critical acclaim…and didn’t just release another acclaimed album just three days ago…how could be dead?....

No, there must be some mistake…one of internet hoaxes…but as soon as my computer booted up, I could see that it was all confirmed…David Bowie had suddenly, surprinslgy passed away….and from cancer?...he had cancer?...

And so began weeks of mourning all over the world…

Look, I realize that if you’re of a certain age, Bowie might be as foreign to you as some big band leader of the 1930s…he was an old guy that belonged to another generation, like Elvis or John Lennon…you might even feel that way about Kurt Cobain…Michael Jackson dying—you get that—but this Bowie guy?...why should I care?...why are people making such a big deal about this?...isn’t this just another baby boomer sob story…

No, it’s not… here’s a line I’ve repeated again and again since Bowie died:  if you take any contemporary artist—and I don’t care which one—and you draw a line from that artist into the past, that line will inevitably, unavoidably intersect with bowie: something he did, something he touched, something he influenced…no matter where you start, all roads lead to Bowie…

If you are to understand anything about today’s music, you to acknowledge this…fans already know this…and if you’re still uncertain, don’t go anyway…I will explain why Bowie does and will always matter…

 

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