On Jan. 10, 2016, singer/songwriter, record producer, actor and glam rock sensation David Bowie—well-known for hits including “Space Oddity,” “Changes,” “Let’s Dance,” “TVC 15,” “Suffragette City,” Jean Genie” and more—passed away after battling cancer for 18 months. His management announced his passing on his Twitter account, and Bowie’s son confirmed the news on Twitter, sharing a poignant photo of him and his dad.
Friday, Jan. 8, was Bowie’s 69th birthday as well as the release date for his most recent album on Iso/Columbia Records ★ (pronounced Blackstar). The title track was the first single off the record accompanied by a short film directed by Johan Reneck that premiered Nov. 19, 2015. In addition, Bowie released a music video for his second single “Lazarus” directed by Reneck, which depicts the artist in a hospital bed.
Read More: Book Preview: The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s
In honor of Bowie and his career, MTV and VH1 will air dedicated programming that will celebrate the life of his musical genius.
Beginning Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. ET, MTV will run interstitials on air, social and digital from some of Bowie’s biggest MTV moments including his 1984 VMA performance of hit song “Blue Jean," an archival interview with Iggy Pop and much more.
At 10 p.m. on Palladia, the network will air David Bowie Storytellers and Ziggy Stardust.
VH1 Classic will air an hour block of David Bowie music videos beginning at 12 a.m. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, all Bowie music videos will be played during the Totally 80’s block from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. and during the 90’s Rocked block from 12 noon – 2 p.m. Ziggy Stardust will air at 10:30 p.m.
Both networks are slated to air additional archival David Bowie content including some iconic videos later this week.
"Omitting my greatest hits frees me in the sense that I cannot rely on past successes to get me through anything I do in the future, and it also helps me to motivate me toward buckling down and writing really well and remaining active as an artist, which is fundamentally why I started a career in music as an alternative to painting." -David Bowie featured in Music Connection magazine, September 1995.
