1991 file photo of David Bowie in Paris. (Image Courtesy - AFP)
David Bowie's family planned a private ceremony to celebrate the late rock legend, honouring his wishes to remain discreet about his death.
Mr Bowie, one of pop culture's most influential figures whose career took him from glam rock to soul to science fiction films, died on January 10 after an undisclosed 18-month battle with cancer.Few other details have emerged.
A statement on Mr Bowie's official Facebook page read:
Representatives of the London-born artist declined to comment on reports which stated that his body was cremated in New York, his adopted home, immediately after his death.
People close to him said that Mr Bowie wanted to keep his illness away from the glare of social media. He instead released a final album,
Blackstar, on his 69th birthday on Friday.
In the words of photographer Annie Leibovitz, "he really curated his death."
Huge interest in tributes Mr Bowie's death triggered an outpouring of mourning, with fans around the world leaving flowers, candles and glitter on sites associated with the artist, and leading musicians including Elton John and Madonna covering his songs live.
In an eerie coincidence, a tribute concert to Mr Bowie at New York's Carnegie Hall had been announced moments before his death.
Performers for the March 31 concert, which sold out quickly, include Cyndi Lauper -- whose flamboyant appearance in the 1980s showed a clear influence of Mr Bowie, and Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, who brought a broader audience to alternative rock in the early 1990s.
Organizers announced that the tribute would extend to a second night on April 1 at Radio City Music Hall, another prominent, but larger venue in New York.
"The unexpected death of David Bowie has turned this tribute, on which we have worked for the past seven months, into a memorial concert," organizers said in a statement.
"The shows will certainly be remembered as a poignant celebration of his music by his friends, peers and fans," they said.
The concerts will feature a house band with Tony Visconti, Mr Bowie's longtime producer.
Mr Visconti also plays bass in a Bowie tribute band called Holy Holy, which conducted shows in Toronto that turned into a rock-driven mourning session for the fallen star.
David Bowie breaks video recordInterest in Mr Bowie's music has soared since his death with
Blackstar expected to top the weekly charts in the United States and Britain.
Blackstar remained the most downloaded album on Apple iTunes in most Western countries, although it slipped to number two in Japan.
Mr Bowie also posthumously broke a record for his music videos.Vevo, which provides videos licensed by music labels on YouTube and other platforms, said that Mr Bowie's videos scored 51 million views on January 11, the day his death was announced.
It marked Vevo's highest number of views ever in a single day for an artist's catalog, wresting the record from fellow British artist Adele, whose videos were seen 36 million times on October 23 when she released her song
Hello. (Also Read:
David Bowie's Lazarus Breaks Adele's Hello Record)
The most watched David Bowie video, with more than 20 percent of the total views, was
Lazarus.