From the Starman to Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, David Bowie’s ever-changing persona saw him moving from folk to glam, pop to industrial, Krautrock to art rock with consummate skill and style. As the world mourned the passing of a true music icon in 2016, we asked: how prog was he?
On Friday, January 8, 2016, Prog’s editor commissioned an article about David Bowie and the progressive quality in his work, running all the way up to Blackstar, his latest album, released that same day – his 69th birthday. By Monday, January 11, the news had spread that it was, in fact, the last-ever album of his lifetime. And so this article became a conflation: part exploration of the prog-ness of his work, part requiem; a tribute to a truly progressive rocker, artist and man.
