It’s hard to put into words what David Bowie meant to the nation and indeed the world.
His style was revolutionary, his music was transformative and his legacy will be everlasting.
Bowie was a pop luminary blessed with true genius, a ceaseless innovator that transcended the generations and simply a man whose love affair with music was undiminished by time and unwearied by illness.
That creative spark and desire for artistic expression still burned brightly even in his final days – and his gift to the world as he parted this life was as beautiful and poignant as any.
Floods of pictures, poems, words and tributes have poured out in the wake of his death from cancer aged 69.
None could ever truly do him justice, but perhaps the most fitting was the beautiful and spontaneous scene in Bowie’s native Brixton near a mural to the late star.
Thousands of people gathered in the streets and sang their hearts out together.
This is what he meant to the world…
Tributes outside out window in #Brixton #DavidBowie #DavidBowieRIP #celebratebowie #BowieForever #Bowie pic.twitter.com/vuOFjX9viJ
— Smoke & Salt (@SmokeandSaltLDN) January 11, 2016