David Bowie’s guitarists on what it was like to play with the Thin White Duke: “I had just come from working with Frank Zappa for a year, and Frank was very directive. David was entirely the opposite”

David Bowie plays a Supro onstage in 2004.

David Bowie, who left us on January 10, 2016, was a highly accomplished singer, songwriter, performer and actor, and a fine musician too, although he knew his limitations when it came to musical virtuosity.

As he told Guitar Player’s Joe Gore in 1997, “My guitar playing hasn’t moved with the times at all. I use the same chords as always, but I do know a lot of them, and I’m able to put them together in interesting juxtapositions. Any time I did spend being disciplined was learning how chords work together.”