David Bowie Man Who Sold The World

Are these the final photographs of David Bowie?

• These pictures may be the final ones ever taken of music icon David Bowie
• Photographs were posted to his official website two days before his death
• Bowie smiles at the camera with the caption: 'Why is this man so happy?'
• Music world united in grief after Bowie died of cancer at the age of 69 

Beaming at the camera and looking dapper in a black fedora hat and suit, these photographs are the final promotional pictures issued of glam rock icon David Bowie.

The images were posted to the 69-year-old's official website and Instagram account on his birthday, just two days before his death from liver cancer. 

Bowie looks ecstatic in snaps taken by his longtime photographer Jimmy King as promotional material to accompany the release of his final album Blackstar.

Gleeful: This pictures may be the final one ever taken of David Bowie

Images of the star beaming at the camera and looking dapper in a black fedora hat and suit were posted to his website two days before his death

The images were posted alongside the caption: 'Why is this man so happy? Is it because it‘s his 69th birthday or that he has released his 28th studio album today and it’s a corker?'

'Who knows, but we’re sure you’ll want to join us in congratulating him on both. Many happy returns of the day to David Bowie.'

In the pictures for Blackstar, described by Bowie's producer Tony Visconti as the star's 'parting gift' to the world, he is seen wearing a suit by New York designer Thom Browne.

Fans commenting on the images of a smiling Bowie, taken on the set of his last video Lazarus in New York at the tail end of last year, said they were a great way to remember the star.

David Bowie's Lazarus video shows him trapped in bed

David Bowie at the Lazarus premiere

He is pictured trapped in a hospital bed (right) in the music video for Lazarus

Eerie: David Bowie in a hospital bed in a video for Lazarus which features the line ‘Look up here I’m in heaven’

Frances.turpie wrote: 'Love this photo.. such a suave man.. RIP Mr Bowie.. you are the man', while kaycee_bythesea added: 'That smile!'

Last photo shoot: The 69-year-old was doing promotional shots for his Blackstar album (pictured), the first Bowie release that did not feature his image

The last time Bowie was pictured in public was at the opening night of the musical Lazarus in New York on December 7.

News broke yesterday of the father-of-two's passing following a secret 18-month battle with cancer, prompting an outpouring of grief across the globe.

Bowie’s wife of 24 years, Iman, 60, shared her heartbreak online with apparent references to her husband’s death on her Instagram page over the weekend.

She posted the messages: ‘The struggle is real, but so is God’, and: ‘Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory.’

Bowie’s death was confirmed by his son Duncan, who tweeted a touching photo of himself as a baby with his father and wrote: ‘Very sorry and sad to say it’s true. I’ll be offline for a while. Love to all.’

A spokesman for the singer said: ‘David Bowie died peacefully surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer.

‘While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.’ 

Party: David Bowie fans gathered for a huge street party in Brixton, South London last night after news of the star's death

Tribute: A bust of Henry Tate was daubed with the distinctive lightning flash from the front cover of Bowie's album Aladdin Sane

Popular: Hundreds of fans were seen in Brixton, which is where Bowie was born and spent the first years of his life

BOWIE DOMINATES THE CHARTS 

The number of David Bowie's songs listened to online leaped by more than 2,000 per cent on the day the world mourned his death, while his albums dominated the charts.

Figures from Spotify show there was a jump of 2,822 per cent in the number of people listening to Bowie in the hours following the announcement that he had died from cancer.

The latest available figures from iTunes show that all five top places on the UK album charts are occupied by Bowie, with his new album Blackstar in first position and more than half of the top 40 taken over by the singer.

Blackstar is almost certain to soar to number one in the official charts when they are released on Friday.

Bowie's individual songs are also likely to do well in the charts this week as fans revisit his back catalogue in the wake of his passing.

The star battled illness for 18 months before his death, but kept it a secret from all but close friends and family - even though he had apparently known it was terminal for around a year.

Despite his cancer diagnosis, Bowie continued to make music, releasing his final album Blackstar just two days before he passed away in New York on Sunday, surrounded by his family.

During his illness he was sometimes too frail to work, but weeks before his death he told the director of a musical based on his songs that he wanted to 'make a second one now' in a sign that his creative spirit was undiminished.

Ivo van Hove told Dutch radio station NOS.nl: 'He told me more than one year and three months ago that he had liver cancer, just after he had been told himself. He said that because he knew that he may not always be able to be around.'

Longtime producer Tony Visconti said he had known for a year that Bowie's cancer was incurable, and suggested that he had made Blackstar as a 'passing gift' to the world.

Bowie shrines popped up around the world yesterday, with many fans in tears as they laid flowers. 

Bowie fans pay tribute outside his New York City apartment

Heaps: The gifts mounted up outside the Berlin block of flats where Bowie lived for a time in the 1970s

Iman on Bowie

Duncan Jones on Bowie

In South London, devotees threw a huge street party near the house in Brixton where Bowie grew up, singing his songs as they channeled their grief into a celebration of the star's life.

Celebrities and public figures rushed to pay tribute to the artist regarded as one of the most radical and ground-breaking musicians of the past 50 years, whose Ziggy Stardust persona helped usher in the glam rock era but who also explored disco and electronic music as well as acting in several films.

Sir Paul McCartney said: ‘Very sad news to wake up to on this raining morning. David was a great star and I treasure the moments we had together.’

One of the more unusual tributes came from Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s culture chief. He quoted Bowie’s first hit, Space Oddity, which includes the line ‘may God’s love be with you’.

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis said of the singer, who played the Somerset festival twice, in 1971 and 2000: ‘He’s one of the three greatest in the world ever – Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and David Bowie. There’s no one else even close.'

Fans mark David Bowie's passing with Brixton singalong

Source : Dailymail