David Bowie’s widow, daughter and collaborators lead tributes on what would have been his 79th birthday

    David Bowie‘s widow Iman, his daughter Lexi and a raft of friends and collaborators are among those paying tributes to the late icon on his birthday.

    • READ MORE: An oral history of David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’

    Today (Thursday January 8), marks what would have been Bowie’s 79th birthday, as well as the 10th anniversary of his final album, ‘Blackstar‘. He died two days later in January 2016, following an 18-month battle with cancer.

    To mark his birthday, Bowie’s wife, Iman, shared a black and white photo of him smiling, alongside the caption: “A million feeling, A thousand thoughts A hundred memories…. YOU! Happy Heavenly Birthday.”

    His daughter, Lexi, also shared her own tribute, posting an old photo of herself and her father on his birthday. “Da big 79 today. Happy birthday pops, miss ya!” she wrote.

    In 2023, Lexi also posted a sweet home video to mark the seventh anniversary of Bowie’s death, showing her and the late icon playing keyboard together. In 2018, both Jones and her mother honoured Bowie’s passing by sharing tattoos in his memory.

    As well as his family, others have been paying tribute to the late rock icon, including his longtime bassist and close friend Gail Ann Dorsey.

    “Hard to believe that 10 years have already gone by since you left us in a world that has seemed to turn completely upside down and into total chaos since your passing,” she began, “but the world remembers you on this day and every day, as I do, and we are eternally thankful for the art and music you have left behind that helps to carry us through the madness and reminds of the power that creativity, vision, courage, humour, intelligence, passion, and music has to conquer even the darkest of adversaries when we nurture these precious qualities within ourselves. God bless you, David. We Love You.”

    Meanwhile, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan shared footage of their performance at Bowie’s 50th birthday concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden with a message.

    “I love celebrating David’s birthday, as he was very dear to myself and SP and always he went out of his way to say hello and make us feel welcome,” wrote Corgan. “He truly was a gentleman by every measure, and one of the greatest artist’s to ever strut the boards.
    This Saturday, I am honored to be invited by my dear friend, the brilliant Mike Garson  to perform David’s incredible music and enduring influence.”

    Another to share memories was former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherly, who shared a photo from the time the band toured with him in 2002.

    “Meeting my hero at 23. Forced myself to say hi and get my photo taken,” Hatherly wrote. “We talked but I walked away in a fog, not remembering a word that was said and struggling to even remember what he looked like IRL. But here we are frozen in time – thank you to whoever took this photo!”

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    Longtime Bowie producer and collaborator Tony Visconti added: “Today is the birthday of Anthony Ferdinand Visconti, my father. It is also the birthday of my musical friend David Bowie. I’m glad I was able to introduce them to each other. I loved them both and I miss them like nobody’s business.”

    Director and photographer Anton Corbijn also shared a tribute to Bowie, taking to Instagram to post a portrait he shot of him in 1980. “It’s 10 years without this beautiful person. His music lives on and i’m grateful for all that he left,” he wrote.

    Presenter Matt Everitt also shared a touching tribute, sharing: “I couldn’t even start to describe the impact he had on almost every aspect of my life, and the incredible joy his music, style, humour and creativity have brought me over the years.”

    “From the 10 year old me, completely spellbound by the cover of ChangesOne, to the man making that announcement on @bbc6music on 10th January 2016, and onward for the rest of my life. Thank you,” he added.

    See more tributes below.

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