The death of David Bowie shook the world: he passed away on Jan. 10, 2016 after an 18-month battle with cancer. Even the younger generations who were never directly exposed to the classics felt the intense shock.

On the chilly Sunday morning of his demise, classics such as “Space Oddity” and “Let’s Dance” were blasted through open windows from the streets of Soho to the Upper West Side. The sorrow and deep appreciation for the life that Bowie lived could be felt throughout the city. People in Manhattan immediately began to set flowers, records, posters and letters at the base of his penthouse apartment at 285 Lafayette Street in Soho. It started with a single bouquet left by a loyal fan and grew into a touching memorial just hours later, lining the entire base of the building. This was the impact of the man who was somehow able to bring his entire imagination to life. There has even been a mural painted on the corner of Kenmare St. and Mott St. downtown. Manhattan is paying tribute to an inimitable artist, an outlandish personality and a brilliantly intuitive and cultural icon.

A lot of people know David Bowie as the guy who sang “Heroes” in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Some know him as the guy Ross Geller compared himself to when he got an earring on “Friends.” Most millennials shrug him off as the guy in their parents’ record collection. However,  David Bowie was so much more than just a cultural reference or a vinyl in the attic from the 80s— Bowie encouraged raw honesty and strangeness, and he taught people that they should recklessly and unapologetically be themselves. The drama, the passion and the bizarre, extraordinary creativity he unleashed onto the loyal fans of the rock and roll genre established him as a legend. Berfin Celik, a freshman at Fordham College Lincoln Center (FCLC), was not a frequent listener of Bowie, but respected his art as a whole. When asked about Bowie, Celik stated, “I do not pay attention to each of his works like I would for artists today. David Bowie is someone I look at as an influence and inspiration, but I can’t specifically pinpoint what he did musically that affects me. His style was eclectic and I admire his outgoing personality.” Our generation never got the chance to appreciate Bowie as much as it should have. Modern pop and alternative rock artists have stolen the spotlight from preeminent icons. This has held millennials back from respecting the true impact of seemingly antiquated music.

Bowie was not only an intensely wild symbol but he was a limitless energy trapped on Earth. He was a man with so many wonderfully imaginative ideas and his passion for space and life amazed people consistently. Bowie didn’t just make art—he was art. Gregory Govea-Lopez, FCLC ‘18, was one of many who grew up listening to Bowie. “I don’t think kids our age understand what a huge loss this was,” he says. “The kids who actually got into those oldies and classics were lucky enough to have experienced his music. There will never be another Bowie.”