David Bowie

1967musician / cultural iconclassic

David Bowie was an English rock musician known for shape-shifting personas like Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke. His January 2016 death sparked a massive online tribute wave, including street-renaming petitions in Austin and Berlin and a fan campaign begging Kanye West not to record a covers album.

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Overview

David Bowie, born David Robert Jones in Brixton, south London, was an English musician who became a rock and pop icon over five decades of shape-shifting personas and constant creative reinvention1. From Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, Bowie kept flipping his sound and image between albums, dropping 25 studio releases and appearing on records by Iggy Pop, Tina Turner, Mick Ronson, and Lou Reed4.

Bowie's digital footprint goes back to August 6, 1995, when the official davidbowie.com domain was registered, making him an early adopter among 20th-century rock stars4. His official Facebook page launched in May 2008, and his Twitter account followed in May 2009; by early 2016, the Facebook page had nearly 6.4 million likes and Twitter had over 756,000 followers4.

After Bowie died on January 10, 2016, from cancer at age 69, his image and voice turned into fixtures across social media memorials, petition drives, remixed videos, and tribute murals1. Urban Dictionary entries call him "a beautiful, semi-androgynous alien that fell to earth in 1976" with "innate seductive powers," capturing the mix of reverence and playful surrealism that defines much of his online legacy7.

How It Spread

News of Bowie's death first appeared on his own social media accounts on the night of January 10-11, 2016, before major outlets picked it up1. The BBC, New York Times, and The Independent ran full obituaries, and Sir Paul McCartney called him a "great star" who "played a very strong part in British musical history"1. Bowie's son, Bafta-winning film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news on Twitter with a short message that he was going offline for a while1.

Within days, fans launched a wave of petitions across Change.org. In Austin, Texas, one of the co-founders of South by Southwest altered a downtown Bowie Street sign to read "David Bowie Street" on January 13, 2016, two days after Bowie's death3. A Change.org petition asking the city to make the rename permanent gathered over 5,700 signatures by January 20, though city officials said the added text would come down by January 193. In Berlin, where Bowie lived on Hauptstraße 155 from 1976 to 1978 and produced three important albums, a separate petition to rename the street David-Bowie-Straße reached over 11,600 supporters by the same date5 (translated from German).

The tribute wave went well beyond street signs. An Italian fan set up a petition asking God to bring Bowie back, which gathered over 11,200 signatures by January 204. UK petitions to put him on the £20 note collected nearly 40,000 signatures, and a request for Royal Mail stamps got 7,7004. A Spanish fan's petition to name newly discovered element #118 "Stardust" managed just 37 signatures, while fans also aimed at Kanye West, whose musing about doing a Bowie covers album drew a petition begging him not to that passed 18,000 signatures4.

Cultural Impact

Bowie's 1983 MTV interview with VJ Mark Goodman resurfaced widely after his death, in which he pressed the network about why it barely aired black artists at the time2. Bowie asked "Don't you think it's a frightening predicament to be in?" and refused Goodman's "it's not me, it's them" framing, a clip that spread across Twitter and blogs as a reminder of his willingness to confront the music industry on race2. Rick James had earlier called out MTV for skipping black artists, telling Rolling Stone that "me and every one of my peers," including Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye, had "great videos" the network wouldn't play2.

In Brixton, a mural of Bowie painted by street artist James Cochran (aka Jimmy C) became a physical gathering point after his death, with crowds laying flowers and candles and holding impromptu sing-alongs of his hits1. Blackstar was on course to hit number one in the UK the Friday after his death, with combined sales over 43,000 that week1.

Frequently Asked Questions

David Bowie

1967musician / cultural iconclassic

David Bowie was an English rock musician known for shape-shifting personas like Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke. His January 2016 death sparked a massive online tribute wave, including street-renaming petitions in Austin and Berlin and a fan campaign begging Kanye West not to record a covers album.

music memes death hoax tragedy memes british memes 2016 memes celebrity reaction memes

Overview

David Bowie, born David Robert Jones in Brixton, south London, was an English musician who became a rock and pop icon over five decades of shape-shifting personas and constant creative reinvention1. From Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, Bowie kept flipping his sound and image between albums, dropping 25 studio releases and appearing on records by Iggy Pop, Tina Turner, Mick Ronson, and Lou Reed4.

Bowie's digital footprint goes back to August 6, 1995, when the official davidbowie.com domain was registered, making him an early adopter among 20th-century rock stars4. His official Facebook page launched in May 2008, and his Twitter account followed in May 2009; by early 2016, the Facebook page had nearly 6.4 million likes and Twitter had over 756,000 followers4.

After Bowie died on January 10, 2016, from cancer at age 69, his image and voice turned into fixtures across social media memorials, petition drives, remixed videos, and tribute murals1. Urban Dictionary entries call him "a beautiful, semi-androgynous alien that fell to earth in 1976" with "innate seductive powers," capturing the mix of reverence and playful surrealism that defines much of his online legacy7.

How It Spread

News of Bowie's death first appeared on his own social media accounts on the night of January 10-11, 2016, before major outlets picked it up1. The BBC, New York Times, and The Independent ran full obituaries, and Sir Paul McCartney called him a "great star" who "played a very strong part in British musical history"1. Bowie's son, Bafta-winning film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news on Twitter with a short message that he was going offline for a while1.

Within days, fans launched a wave of petitions across Change.org. In Austin, Texas, one of the co-founders of South by Southwest altered a downtown Bowie Street sign to read "David Bowie Street" on January 13, 2016, two days after Bowie's death3. A Change.org petition asking the city to make the rename permanent gathered over 5,700 signatures by January 20, though city officials said the added text would come down by January 193. In Berlin, where Bowie lived on Hauptstraße 155 from 1976 to 1978 and produced three important albums, a separate petition to rename the street David-Bowie-Straße reached over 11,600 supporters by the same date5 (translated from German).

The tribute wave went well beyond street signs. An Italian fan set up a petition asking God to bring Bowie back, which gathered over 11,200 signatures by January 204. UK petitions to put him on the £20 note collected nearly 40,000 signatures, and a request for Royal Mail stamps got 7,7004. A Spanish fan's petition to name newly discovered element #118 "Stardust" managed just 37 signatures, while fans also aimed at Kanye West, whose musing about doing a Bowie covers album drew a petition begging him not to that passed 18,000 signatures4.

Cultural Impact

Bowie's 1983 MTV interview with VJ Mark Goodman resurfaced widely after his death, in which he pressed the network about why it barely aired black artists at the time2. Bowie asked "Don't you think it's a frightening predicament to be in?" and refused Goodman's "it's not me, it's them" framing, a clip that spread across Twitter and blogs as a reminder of his willingness to confront the music industry on race2. Rick James had earlier called out MTV for skipping black artists, telling Rolling Stone that "me and every one of my peers," including Earth, Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye, had "great videos" the network wouldn't play2.

In Brixton, a mural of Bowie painted by street artist James Cochran (aka Jimmy C) became a physical gathering point after his death, with crowds laying flowers and candles and holding impromptu sing-alongs of his hits1. Blackstar was on course to hit number one in the UK the Friday after his death, with combined sales over 43,000 that week1.

Frequently Asked Questions