To sustain a career in the pop music industry often requires constant reinvention on the part of an artist, not just in the music they produce but also in their aesthetic.
One artist who perhaps understood this better than anyone was David
Bowie, who drastically reimagined himself numerous times throughout his career, right up until the time he died from cancer in 2016 at the age of 69. From Ziggy Stardust to Aladdin Sane, Bowie's constant and often androgynous transformations kept him relevant to whatever trends were happening in popular culture, and inspired a whole new generation of artists to be themselves by artfully obscuring their true identities.
With an audience consisting of both music lovers and professional musicians, many were devastated when Bowie died unexpectedly, and many expressed their grief and dismay on a variety of platforms. Around this time, one artist in particular, Madonna, who is known for her own professional reinvention, spoke out about how the shapeshifting legend changed her life.
Madonna's revelations about the importance of David Bowie in her creative upbringing following his death were nothing new. She inducted Bowie into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, per Billboard, explaining he was the first musician she ever saw in concert. Back then, she said, "I don't think that I breathed for two hours. It was the most amazing show that I'd ever seen, not just because the music was great, but because it was great theater ... I came home a changed woman."
(Read More: grunge.com)
Heroes
I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day
And you, you can be mean
And I, I'll drink all the time
'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact
Yes we're lovers, and that is that
Though nothing will keep us together
We could steal time just for one day
We can be heroes for ever and ever
What d'you say?
I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be Heroes, just for one day
I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be Heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day
I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing, by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns, shot above our heads (over our heads)
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall)
And the shame, was on the other side
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever
Then we could be Heroes, just for one day
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
Just for one day
We can be Heroes
We're nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay
But we could be safer, just for one day
Oh-oh-oh-ohh, oh-oh-oh-ohh, just for one day