Why David Bowie Mattered

The fascinating life of David Bowie is providing all kinds of remembrances. Some related reading upon his death from cancer at age 69:

• He'd just released an album, Blackstar. Was he saying goodbye? A critic at the Guardian assesses.
• Bowie also was a "mesmerizing" actor, and the Washington Post looks back at some of his eclectic roles, including a portrayal of Andy Warhol.
• He was financial wizard, too, notes Forbes. In the 1990s, "he pioneered an entirely new investment vehicle when he created Bowie Bonds, asset-backed securities of current and future revenues of his catalogue of more than 300 songs and 27 albums." And don't forget his ISP, Bowie.net.
• Gizmodo makes the case that Bowie changed not just music, but science fiction.

• Here's one music critic's list of the 20 best Bowie songs at USA Today. It's got "Space Oddity" over "Changes."
• But Rolling Stone has a list of songs that "only hardcore fans know." Anyone remember "London Bye Ta Ta"? Check your Bowie cred here.
• One of Bowie's eyes was permanently dilated, the result, he said, of a childhood punch. The Telegraph collects that and other Bowie factoids.
• The New York Times reprints a 1971 review of Bowie's work, with the prescient line, "The day will come when David Bowie is a star."
• Billboard rounds up "10 Brilliantly Bizarre" music videos here.
• Born David Jones, he changed his name because of, yes, the bowie knife. The AP has a full obituary.
• The secret to his greatness is that he "never stopped innovating," explains this Los Angeles Times appreciation.

Click for an amazing GIF showing all of Bowie's iconic hairstyles. (More David Bowie stories.)