David Bowie Dies From Cancer At 69

Rock icon David Bowie died Sunday following a long battle with cancer just days after celebrating his 69th birthday and his latest album, “Blackstar.”

“Very sorry and sad to say it's true," Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, tweeted, confirming the rock star’s death. "I'll be offline for awhile. Love to all.”

The reality of Bowie’s death shocked fans who read a brief announcement first shared to his verified Facebook and Twitter accounts. A rep said Bowie died after fighting cancer for the past 18 months.

“David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer,” the heart wrenching statement read. “While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.”

Iman Abdulmajid, Bowie’s wife of 24 years, did not immediately comment on his illness, but the Rolling Stones did:

"The Rolling Stones are shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the death of our dear friend, David Bowie," the band put out in a statement. "As well as being a wonderful and kind man, he was an extraordinary artist, and a true original."

The death of the singer, film and fashion legend follows rumors of poor health dating back to 2004, when he collapsed backstage at a music festival in Germany. After this incident, he underwent surgery for a clogged artery.

The release of Bowie’s 25th studio album coincided with his 69th birthday on Friday and anticipated by his producer as an ending to his distinguished career that spanned five decades.

“He made 'Blackstar' for us — his parting gift,” Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti said Monday. “I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it.”

The final album was immediately embraced by fans who considered “Blackstar” to be another one of rebirths.

"I'm devastated," said Alexandrea Nieto, 31, who joined other fans to mourn the rock icon outside of his SoHo apartment building. "To me David Bowie was not only an artist. He was an icon."

Born as David Jones in South London in 1947, he changed his last name to Bowie professionally to avoid being confused with The Monkees lead singer Davy Jones.

Bowie crossed paths with his future producer Visconti as a budding 19-year-old folk rocker in the late 1960s, who had a passion for musical theater. His evolving style boggled his management.

“His publisher beckoned me,” Visconti recalled to WNYC’s Soundcheck on Thursday. “We have this singer, songwriter. We don’t know how to categorize him. He’s kind of different.”

“Every song is a different kind of song,” the publisher told Visconti. “We’re hoping that you’ll work with him to channel him into one style.”

That never happened. Bowie mixed and matched his diverse love for music depending on the decade.

After releasing his first mega-hit, the 1969 song “Space Oddity,” nobody could confuse him with anyone else.

The 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” birthed an alter ego of the same name. And with it, his music became buoyed by his look: futuristic costumes, jarring makeup, genderbending sexuality and dyed hair that contrasted the hippy culture of the late ’60s.

Through the '70s, he dominated the charts with a string of anthems, including “Rebel, Rebel,” “Young Americans” and “Changes.”

But as the era changed, his androgynous, glam “Ziggy Stardust” persona gave way to an MTV-friendly, dapper image and poppy hits such as “Modern Love” in the ’80s.

“What I have is a malevolent curiosity,” Bowie told the Daily News in 2002. “That's what drives my need to write and what probably leads me to look at things a little askew. I do tend to take a different perspective from most people.”

Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Music didn’t seem to be enough for the multi-hyphenate artist; he starred in more than two dozen movies, including the leading role in the 1976 sci-fi drama “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

Bowie’s son, filmmaker Duncan Jones, credits a childhood visit to see his father on the set of the 1986 Jim Henson-directed fantasy “Labyrinth” with sparking his own interest in the medium. The 44-year-old went on to direct the acclaimed “Moon” and “Source Code.”

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