A creatively restless chameleon and visionary artist, David Bowie took inspiration from a diverse, eclectic range of influences, from Japanese Noh theatre to English drum’n’bass to American 'Beat Generation' writer William Burroughs. But, by his own admission, one of the musician's prime influences was former Pink Floyd bandleader Syd Barrett.
Interviewed for the 2007 BBC television series Seven Ages of Rock, Bowie declared that he was "passionately in love with" Barrett's songwriting, stating, "There was something slightly not quite with us about Syd that really appealed to me strongly. There was a Peter Pan quality about him."
In an in-depth interview published in the July 1990 issue of Musician magazine, Bowie went deeper on his admiration for Barrett, and admitted that his iconic "Turn and face the strange" lyric from his 1972 single Changes was "a line obviously left over from the Jim Morrison/Syd Barrett school of writing."
"Barrett was a huge influence on me, absolutely," he enthused. "I thought Syd could do no wrong. I thought he was a massive talent He was the first I had ever seen in the middle ’60s who could decorate a stage. He had this strange mystical look to him, with painted black fingernails and his eyes fully made up. He weaved around the microphone, and I thought, This guy is totally entrancing!
"He was like some figure out of an Indonesian play or something, and wasn’t altogether of this world. It was so demanding, and I thought it was magical. It’s so sad that he couldn't continue with the fever he started with."
Following Barrett's death in July 2006, Bowie was one of countless musicians who paid tribute to his art and legacy, describing him as "a startlingly original songwriter."
