MUMBAI: British songwriter, record producer, actor and legendary icon David Bowie lost his 18-month long battle with cancer. The announcement of Bowie’s death came through his official Facebook post around 6:30 a.m. GMT today.

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

The influential artist, known for his contribution to music since the 1970s, released his latest album ‘Blackstar’ on 8 January, 2016- his 69th birthday. The 25th studio album, believed to be inspired from his earlier krautrock work, has a received a lot of critical appreciation.

2013 marked his comeback year with the release of the album ‘The Next Day,’ for David Bowie who last performed live on stage back in 2006 in New York.

The announcement of his death comes as a shock for fans and musicians, but Bowie bids his goodbyes with a highly decorated career and his love for music through his latest work ‘Blackstar.’

Bowie’s excellence went beyond genres of rock music- glam rock, hard rock, soul, art rock and funk. Known for the popular tracks that ruled the 70s and 80s like ‘Space Oddity’, ‘Heroes’, ‘Under Pressure’, ‘Rebel, Rebel’, the multi-talented artist also left a huge mark in the movie industry. His performances in ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’, ‘Just A Gigolo’ and his portrayal of Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan's ‘The Prestige’ proved that Bowie’s talent is timeless.

Gene Simmons said on his twitter account -

David Bowie, you will be sorely missed. Bowie's “Changes” and the Ziggy story songs were a major influence for me. pic.twitter.com/N1nkD9h82W

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) January 11, 2016

Pharrell Williams tweeted soon after the announcement -

David Bowie was a true innovator, a true creative. May he rest in peace #RIPDavidBowie

— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) January 11, 2016

American singer Regina Spektor tweeted

Rest in peace David Bowie... Universe traveler dream bringer song singer... I'm glad you were here and will keep listening, as always...

— regina spektor (@respektor) January 11, 2016

Kanye West paid his tributes too

David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) January 11, 2016

British minister David Cameron paid his condolences through his official twitter account

I grew up listening to and watching the pop genius David Bowie. He was a master of re-invention, who kept getting it right. A huge loss.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 11, 2016

Bowie was an inspiration, role model and a rebel. Let’s revisit some of his best quotes and lyrics that define him as a poet, a revolutionary, a 'super-human' -

“I don’t know where I am going from here, but I promise I won’t be boring.”

“I re-invented my image so many times that I am in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman.”

“I always had a repulsive need to be something more than a human.I felt very puny as a human. I thought, “F*** that. I want to be a superhuman.”

“People are so fuc**** dumb. Nobody reads anymore, nobody goes out and looks and explores the society and culture they were brought up in. People have attention spans of five seconds and as much depth as a glass of water.”

“What I like my music to do to me is awaken the ghosts inside me. Not the demons, the ghosts.”

You will be missed, Bowie.

Radioandmusic.com remembers the legend with one of his greatest tracks ever