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David Bowie — six songs that shook the world of music

The stories behind some of Bowie’s finest tracks, as featured in The Life of a Song series

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David Bowie’s Starman was a moment of awakening
The singer’s 1972 tune — and his television appearance — shifted the times in popular culture, fashion, music and art
Space Oddity — David Bowie’s 1969 breakthrough hit has continued to orbit the world of music
The Man Who Sold the World — David Bowie kept going back to his 1970 track
Nirvana were also among the acts to put their stamp on this spectral, otherworldly number
David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ — the ultimate epitaph
How Nina Simone and David Bowie transformed Wild is the Wind
The theme to a forgotten film became a tornado of sound in the hands of the US singer and then the Thin White Duke
Life on Mars? — David Bowie’s song had its roots in another epic hit
The 1971 track, which channelled Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, became a tribute to Bowie following his death seven years ago