DAVID BOWIE – Why We Still Mourn Him

David Bowie passed away on Sunday, January 10, 2016 and the world went into shock. January 10, 2016 was The Day The Music Died. Immediately on all social networks fans (and let’s say it, even those who have never been big Bowie fans) started to write loving and mourning posts about him. The amount of posts was overwhelming…the only star who died in the past few years that caused a similar amount of posts was Michael Jackson, but from what I recall it was not close to the number of posts about David. Prince didn't even get close, let's say the truth. In the first week I think 90% of Facebook posts I was seeing in the Notification page was about him. At a certain point after about a week I even started to see posts like “Ok, enough with Bowie already”, “Stop posting about him and let him rest in peace” or just “I’m tired of seeing Bowie posts”. What pissed me off the most is that those posts were coming from people who call themselves “fans” of other bands… I was like “How will you feel when your fave singer will die?” and I heard stuff like “I will be sad but I won’t make all this mess” (Yes, really?? We’ll see then) or “It would be worse if a member of my family died” (Nooo, really??? What a wisdom pearl!). To this people I want to remind first that if you are tired of seeing posts about Bowie (or anything else), there is a magic scroll wheel on your mouse, you scroll down and you will see different posts!! Wow, how magic is that?? See, it didn’t take much, right?? Second, in OUR Facebook walls we are still free to post whatever we want without asking permission to anyone! Don’t like my posts? Go somewhere else!

So, why is it that people are mourning David Bowie so much??? Not only his biggest fans…. let me tell you, Bowie was not my #1 idol, for me first there are Duran Duran, and then came David Bowie…so I can try to explain it from my point of view. David Bowie changed my life, and so many other people’s lives.  Let’s face it, David Bowie was the greatest artist the world has ever known. Without David Bowie leading the way, most of today’s greatest bands and singers wouldn’t have started to make music in the first place. He changed the face of music – if I think about it, after Elvis, David Bowie is the artist who really invented something new in music! Not only  he created Ziggy Stardust but he kept on reinventing himself album after album…change is good, that’s what Bowie taught us. He taught us that it’s ok to be different, it’s ok to be gay or bisexual, it’s ok for a man to use make up, it’s ok to have less-than-pefect teeth, it’s ok to just be yourself…or to be someone else if you’d like to. He broke all the rules again and again, until the rules set for common people were not applicable to Bowie anymore…and in the meantime his superb talent gave us great music, great concerts, great movie performances, great paintings. While he knew he was dying he worked til his last days to leave us a last album, a final gift for his fans, and maybe more music for the next years to come. He taught us how to live and he taught us how to die with his battle against cancer.

In all these years he became like a family member for all of us, his music would always be there when we needed it, and believe me, this is more than you can say about some members of our real families! Perhaps one of the most beautiful posts I’ve seen about his passing on Facebook is one that says “Don’t cry, they tell me – You didn’t know him” – “No – I say – But he seemed to know me”! 

I think this pretty much says it all!

I was lucky enough to see David Bowie in concert 3 times in 1987, 1997 and 2003 and I will never forget it! His Glass Spider Tour was, and still is,  the greatest show I’ve ever seen!

For those of you who happen to be in Italy, you can visit the Exhibition DAVID BOWIE IS at the MAMbo in Bologna until November 13!! The exhibition had over 1 million visitors in London, partly surely due to the emotional wave caused by David's passing, but it's an appointment you shouldn't miss if you love Bowie. Videos, Costumes, Song Lyrics handwritten by him...for a Bowie fan it's a feast! If you have the chance to visit this exhibition do it, you won't regret it!