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10 Years Without David Bowie

Posted by Eyesore Merch on 12th Jan 2026

10 Years Without David Bowie

10 Years Without David Bowie

Saturday 10th January marked ten years since we lost the legend David Bowie (10 January 2016).  Ten years on, it still feels a bit unreal — like someone’s paused the telly halfway through the best bit and walked off with the remote.  But if anyone was going to leave with the lights perfectly placed, costume immaculate, and the ending quietly devastating… it was Bowie.

If you don't know much about Bowie a good place to start is his YouTube channel here

The last era: how Bowie turned the end into art

In his final years, Bowie kept things deliberately private.  He stepped out of the spotlight, then re-emerged with a record that sounded like it had beamed in from a different galaxy.

★ (Blackstar) was released on 8 January 2016 — Bowie’s 69th birthday — and it landed like a strange, beautiful message in a bottle. The album credits show it was made with longtime collaborator Tony Visconti and a tight group of New York jazz players (including Donny McCaslin, Jason Lindner, Tim Lefebvre and Mark Guiliana).

Then came the timing — the part that, ten years later, still gives you that little chill.  The “Lazarus” video hit YouTube on 7 January 2016, only days before he died.

After his passing, Visconti wrote the line that basically sums it all up: Bowie’s “death was no different from his life — a work of art.”

That’s the thing. Blackstar doesn’t feel like an album that accidentally became a farewell.  It feels like Bowie doing what he always did: controlling the frame, telling a story, making the audience lean in — and leaving you thinking about it long after the curtain’s down.

So who is your favourite Bowie?

Here’s the question we always end up asking each other when Bowie comes up: what’s your favourite Bowie era?

Are you the glitter-and-chaos crowd?  The Berlin headphones-on-and-stare-out-the-bus-window crowd?  The big suit, big chorus 80s crowd?  Or the “actually, the late stuff is criminally underrated” crowd?

To celebrate the man properly, let’s walk through a few of the major eras — with a handful of essential YouTube links to tracks for each, plus some Bowie bits from our store that match the vibe.

Shop all Bowie merch here: David Bowie at Eyesore Merch

1) The early years & space-age breakthrough (1969–1971)

This is Bowie finding his voice — songwriter first, pop star second — and then dropping a song about an astronaut that somehow became a permanent part of British culture.

Merch that fits this era:

2) Ziggy Stardust & glam peak (1972–1973)

Here’s where Bowie doesn’t just make songs — he builds a whole world, then turns up dressed as the main character. Ziggy is the era people picture when they say “Bowie” out loud.

Merch that fits this era:

3) Aladdin Sane, lightning bolts & swagger (1973)

If Ziggy is the alien rock star, Aladdin Sane is Ziggy after a long tour: sharper, stranger, more intense. And yes — the lightning bolt is basically pop-art royalty at this point.

Merch that fits this era:

4) Diamond Dogs, soul turns & the Thin White Duke (1974–1976)

This stretch is wild: dystopian glam, then straight into soul and funk, then the icy elegance of the Thin White Duke. Bowie didn’t “change style” — he basically moved house entirely.

Merch that fits this era:

5) Berlin trilogy & art-rock masterpieces (1977–1979)

For a lot of fans, this is the “best music” era — the one you put on when you want to feel like you’re in a film. It’s angular, emotional, and somehow still sounds modern.

Merch that fits this era:

6) The big 80s: pop brilliance & stadium Bowie (1980–1987)

If your Bowie is the one on MTV — sharp suit, big hooks, massive confidence — you’re in this section. People love to argue about the 80s albums, but the singles? Come on now. Absolute classics.

Merch that fits this era:

7) Late-period reinvention & the final statement (1990s–2016)

There’s a whole generation who met Bowie through the later reinventions — darker, weirder, more experimental again — and then the last two records, which feel like he’d come full circle into pure art.

Merch that fits this era:

One last thing

Ten years on, Bowie still does what he always did: gives you multiple versions of himself to choose from — and somehow, they’re all true.  That’s why the “best era” question never gets old.  It’s not really a quiz.  It’s a personality test.

So: what’s your Bowie era? Tell us the album, the look, the song — all of it.  And if you’re celebrating today by throwing something on the turntable (or sticking the headphones on and pretending you’re in a montage), that’s a very good shout.

Browse the full collection: David Bowie merch at Eyesore Merch