When Germany issues an official thank you for your part in bringing down the Berlin Wall, you know you must have had some positive impact on people’s lives. We are, of course, talking about David Bowie, the 69-year-old music legend who inspired millions, and sadly passed away of throat cancer yesterday.

David Bowie was not just a musician. He was an intellectual, as philanthropist, a teacher, a performer, an artist, and above all a human being who constantly reinvented himself over and over again.

That was a measure of his genius. While there are many hardcore Bowie fans out there, even those who do not love his music appreciate his contribution to music, and to humanity. Sadly, it was cancer that killed him, yet he still managed to produce one final album before his death. When people saw it, they thought that Bowie had again tapped into his dark side (he scared a lot of children in his glam-rock costumes when he was much younger). But it wasn’t. It was Bowie chronicling his own battle with cancer. The darkness in the videos is merely a reflection of what he was going through. Without pomp and fanfare, he released the album and left it for our own digestion.

Bowie, born David Robert Jones, was a constant force in music. His first major breakthrough was the classic Space Oddity in 1969, which was so brilliantly covered by astronaut Chris Hadfield (among many others) on the International Space Station. He also toyed with his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust in the 1970s, but while Ziggy was short-lived, Bowie seemed to morph in stage character as the years went by.

He aged gracefully, and his musical experimentation knew no bounds. He was very popular here in Malta during the in the 1970s and 1980s. He had other mega hits such as  Heroes in 1977 Let’s Dance in 1982. He collaborated with some of the biggest names on earth such as Nine Inch Nails, Brian Eno, Queen, and many, many others.

He aged gracefully, always looking dapper in his leather trench coats, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. In a way, he developed the 1950s look and turned it into something that was so Bowie in the 2010’s.

In his later years, his style became more experimental, and he gradually stopped touring, only to make appearances at Charity gigs. He has sold about 140 million records, which is quite staggering. David Bowie was more than a musician, he was a figure in Pop culture.

He transcended genres effortlessly and had a wider cross section appeal that other musicians would only dream of. It is, in a way, refreshing that yet another musical great did not leave the world because of drug or alcohol abuse. David Bowie was taken by cancer, a disease that directly affect one in four of us. There is no doubt that Bowie will be missed in Malta, just as he will all over the world.

One of his last videos – to the song Lazarus – is haunting yet beautiful. It was clearly his message to the world before he passed. To quote from his own lyrics: “Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on, Ground Control to Major Tom. Commencing countdown, engines on.
Check ignition and may God's love be with you.” God speed Major Tom, rest easy.