The City of Paris unveiled the plaque on rue David-Bowie, in the 13th arrondissement, on Monday January 8, on the 77th birthday of the legendary musician who died in 2016.
“Long live rock, long live pop, long live David Bowie and long live Paris! », Launched Jérôme Coumet, the mayor of the district, unveiling the name plaque, alongside those close to the artist, including the designer Agnès B., who dressed him “for twenty-five years”. David Bowie’s family was kept in New York, explained Jérôme Soligny, friend and French biographer of the singer.
This initiative was launched by Jérôme Coumet, Bowie fan, who obtained approval from the Paris Council in February 2020 to name a street in the star’s name.
A hundred fans
Many admirers were present, including “around a hundred” members of the “Bowie France” fan club. “We are moved, honored” by this tribute, testified Karine, 52, handbag emblazoned with the British flag across her chest, who attended fourteen concerts of her idol.
No celebrity names were removed to make way for David Bowie, the track, approximately 50 meters long, having been created as part of the overhaul of the area near Austerlitz station.
The unveiling of the plaque was to be followed by an evening of tribute at the town hall of the 13th arrondissement and accompanied by an exhibition of photos and paintings, “conceived and imagined by Geoff MacCormack, photographer, and George Underwood, painter, friends of the artist’s youth”, announced Jérôme Coumet on X. The exhibition is also being held at the town hall, until January 14.
It was in Paris that David Bowie “declared his love to Iman”, his wife, “on a riverboat”, said Jérôme Soligny. French avant-garde theater culture had an influence on the artist’s visual style. He also covered the songs Amsterdam and Ma mort by Jacques Brel.
Died on January 10, 2016 from liver cancer, he would have been 77 years old on Monday. Propelled in 1969 by the hit Space Oddity, David Bowie counts among his flagship songs and albums Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane, as well as commercial successes like Let’s Dance and China Girl.