David Bowie to many people in my generation may mean nothing. They may have heard a song in a movie or seen “The Labyrinth.” If these are the only things one knows about Bowie, they are seriously underestimating his genius.

There are few musicians or artists in general that can continue staying relevant throughout their careers. Usually, bands get a solid 10 to 15 years of relevant output and then ride on the success of that work for the rest of their career. With Bowie, that was not the case. He went from the glam rock of “Ziggy Stardust,” to the funk of “Young Americans,” to the experimental Berlin Trilogy, to moving in an electronic direction in the 90s, until finally releasing his two final albums “The Next Day,” and “Blackstar,” which rank among his best.
Not only did he release an album two days before his death, but it was actually one of his most creative and strangest albums of his career. Musicians that release late-career albums typically just to rehash their old ideas, but again, that’s not how Bowie rolls. His album opened with a nearly 10-minute song with lyrical themes of death and middle-eastern tinged saxophone. Very strange, very good.

Not only did his album have themes of death, but his accompanying video for “Lazarus,” was almost prophetic. Released two days before his death, the video showed a frail Bowie lying in a hospital bed with a character creeping up from under his bed, a character that could be interpreted as the Grim Reaper. However, the most disturbing feature of the video is Bowie backing slowly into a cabinet and shutting the door, almost signaling his departure from the earth.

His death came as a shock and left many in tears. However, his music and image will continue to inspire generations, just as so many fallen geniuses before him.