Beginning on the 8th to commemorate his birthday, for three days in January since his 2016 death, fans set up shrine and vigil to celebrate the birth and mourn the death of their “Ziggy”, their “Space Oddity”, their “Hero”, David Bowie, at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The atmosphere is generally calm and somber as smartphones play a cache of random Bowie catalog, providing soundtrack to the mass of candles flickering, mounds of heaped flowers, gifts, handwritten messages, and fan-made drawings and paintings, engulfing his star.
The crowd and their method of tribute are as eclectic as he was. Jean Genies and Young Dudes meeting for the first, and most likely only, time share their favorite Bowie eras, moments, or songs. Some even have personal stories involving encounters with him. Others stand in reflective silence. The mystical-type spark incense, hold crystals, and pray. Strumming guitar players lead the crowd in quiet acoustic versions of “Starman” and “Changes”. Occasionally vehicles traveling down the Blvd will pull up to the curbside, roll down their windows and lighten the lowkey mood by blasting Bowie songs for the mourning crowd. Several people choose to pour out vials of brightly colored glitter, spreading it ceremoniously with purpose around the bouquets and burning wicks, as if the tiny shiny flecks were the ashes of Ziggy Stardust himself.
By the anniversary of his death on the 10th, the moat of homemade effigies and trinkets is so large that only the letters of his name can be seen. The brassy 5 points of the star are covered by gifts from the worlds’ misfits pooling out from its center saying goodbye to their patron saint, sending their messages of love and devotion from “ground control” on Hollywood Blvd back to Major Tom floating in the stardust ether above.
David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016)
