[1][2] Bowie released his album The Next Day in early 2013 after having secretly recorded it over the previous two years, surprising fans and critics who had assumed that he had retired.

"[16] Many musicians who had worked with Bowie over the years, such as Mike Garson, Gerry Leonard, Brian Eno, Nile Rodgers, Reeves Gabrels, Tina Turner, Iggy Pop, Sterling Campbell, Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey, had not been told about his illness and were surprised when Bowie died.

[21] A few days after his death, a letter discussing his final moments was published by palliative care doctor Mark Taubert.

The letter was initially published in the British Medical Journal[22] and then the Independent Newspaper[23] and was shared by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones.

In Brixton, the London area in which Bowie was born, a mural painted in 2013 by Australian artist Jimmy C became a shrine at which fans left flowers, records and handwritten messages.

[32] As well as leaving flowers, fans gathered in the streets of Brixton on the evening of the 11th of January to sing together and celebrate his life and works.

[36] Flowers were also left outside Bowie's New York City apartment and next to his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

[39] In Japan, hours after Bowie's death, a devoted fan was detained for threatening to commit suicide with a box cutter in public.

[42] Friend and collaborator Iggy Pop described him on social media as "the light of my life", while singer-songwriter Madonna tweeted: "Talented.

Queen, with whom he collaborated on "Under Pressure", tweeted a link to the video of the song, with the words: "This is our last dance...."[43] Elton John commented that "we all know how inspiring he is.

[44] John also performed a cover of "Space Oddity" at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles two days after Bowie's death.

[45] Kate Bush, noted for rarely giving public statements, told The Guardian in an interview: "David Bowie had everything.

"[49] Paul McCartney, meanwhile, shared a picture of him and Bowie together on Instagram and commented that "David was a great star and I treasure the moments we had together.

[50][non-primary source needed] Bruce Springsteen commented "Over here on E Street, we're feeling the great loss of David Bowie.

[54] At the time of Bowie's death, his ex-wife Angie was competing as a housemate on the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother in the United Kingdom.

After the show's producers informed her of his death off camera, Angie returned to the house and confided in fellow housemate Tiffany Pollard, exclaiming "David's dead".

Angie decided to voluntarily leave the house a week later, following Gest who had left for medical reasons two days earlier.

The album's second single "Lazarus" includes the lyrics "Look up here, I'm in heaven/I've got scars that can't be seen", which appeared in numerous news publications after his death.

[65] The album's title was believed to have symbolised death; it is the name given to a cancerous lesion, as well as the term for the transitional state between a collapsed star and a singularity.

[citation needed] In the United States, Bowie's combined album and song sales rose to 682,000 following his death, which was a rise of more than 5,000%.

[68] Another nine of his albums re-entered in the Billboard 200, including The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Hunky Dory, Let's Dance, Aladdin Sane, Low, and The Next Day.

[75] Several artists performed songs by Bowie during concerts in the weeks following his death, including Elton John, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[77] A concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City called The Music of David Bowie had already been announced, and was turned into a memorial event after news of his death broke; tickets sold out in two hours.

[78] A number of artists performed and paid tribute at a memorial event in London's Union Chapel six days after his death.

[79] Lady Gaga was chosen to perform a tribute to Bowie at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, which featured a medley of his songs such as "Space Oddity", "Changes", "Ziggy Stardust", "Fame", and "Let's Dance".

[81] The rock band Phish performed Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album in its entirety as their Halloween costume at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on 31 October 2016.

[92] Glenn Branca, whom Bowie had met and had referred to as an influence on his Tin Machine music, released The Light (for David) in 2016.

[97] The 2023 revival season of the Fresh TV animated series Total Drama featured a gay contestant named Bowie, who was renamed from his original considered name due to head writer Terry McGurrin's suggestion given his admiration for Bowie due to his status as a fluid, androgynous rock icon who normalized bisexuality, make-up and women's clothing without caring for anyone else's opinion.

[98] Due to the 2024 announcement of Robert Eggers directing a sequel to Labyrinth because of the success of his Nosferatu remake, it was noted by Feature First that Eggers would have to recast Jareth the Goblin King if he were to bring back Bowie's character, insider Jeff Sneider noting that Alexander Skarsgård had been previously spoken years ago to take over Bowie's role as Jareth.

He also left $2m to his long-standing assistant Corinne Schwab and $1m to his friend Marion Skene who was the nanny to his eldest child Duncan Jones.