David Bowie: The artists who credit the glam rock singer with influencing their work

From Kanye West to Lady Gaga

(Reuters)

David Bowie, who died on Sunday aged 69 after a secret 18-month “courageous” battle with cancer”, has left a lasting legacy.

That’s particularly true when it comes to modern day artists from all music genres. It’s fair to say there aren’t many who David Bowie didn’t influence in one way or another.

Emerging as a force of uniqueness and individuality in the late 1960s, the effect of Bowie’s presence is as evident in present day music, fashion and pop culture as it was then.

Among the many artists he undoubtedly influenced, these are some of the many who have spoken of the legacy of Bowie on their works.

Lady Gaga

The extravagant singer bears much resemblance to Ziggy Stardust just at face value. When she emerged into the mainstream in 2008 with "Just Dance" sporting a lightning strike across her eye, that was clear.

Today she simply retweeted a tweet which said: “In all honesty, Gaga as we know her would not exist without David Bowie.”

In 2013, she reportedly told Alan Carr: “He [Bowie] still runs my universe as well… Every morning I wake up and I think, ‘What would Bowie do?’”

The Killers

In 2011, The Killers frontman spoke of the impact Bowie’s "Changes" and the album Hunky Dory had on his musical career.

“It’s the most important record to me, ever,” he told the Independent.

In 2013, he then revealed their monumental hit "All These Things That I’ve Ever Done" sampled the baseline from Bowie’s "Slow Burn" from the 2002 album Heathen.

Arctic Monkeys

The Sheffield natives revealed they listened to Bowie while recording their award-winning album AM in 2014.

Speaking to RVA magazine they said: “I was really listening to a lot of Bowie stuff when we were recording. Just kind of re-visiting his work, especially Ziggy Stardust. The album is just amazing.

“I really love it, but when you really examine it, it’s pretty flawless in my opinion.”

Kanye West

Ever the individual in terms of music style and fashion, West certainly bears similarities to Bowie. And his influence upon West is something he revealed on Twitter upon learning of Bowie’s death.

Calling him so “fearless” and “creative”, West said he was “one of my most important inspirations” and provided the music industry with a “magic for a lifetime”.

Kiss

Gene Simmons from Kiss also took to Twitter to pay tribute to the late singer and announced that Bowie’s work majorly influenced his career.

Sharing a picture of the iconic performer he told his 763,000 followers how "Changes" and the songs of Ziggy Stardust influence his successful rock career.

You can read more tributes to David Bowie here.