The legendary musician David Bowie has died at the age of 69 after an 18-month battle with cancer. Bowie had one of the most colourful and influential careers in rock history, reinventing himself repeatedly through musical transformations and bold persona changes over his decades-long career. The obituary looks back at highlights from Bowie's life and career through a collection of photographs tracing his many iconic images and roles from the 1960s through the 2000s.

2. The legendary musician has died at the age of 69 after an 18-
month battle with cancer. Here’s look back at one of the most
colourful careers in rock history

3. David Robert Jones was born on January 8, 1947 in Brixton
(England), son of a middle-class marriage made by the public
relations Haywood Stenton "John" Jones and the waitress
Margaret Mary "Peggy" Burns.

4. David Bowie in The
Kon-rads in 1963
Photograph: V&A/PA

5. David Bowie in 1964.

6. David Bowie as Davy
Jones in 1965
Photograph:
Redferns

8. David Bowie performs on the
British television show, Ready,
Steady, Go in 1966
Photograph: Michael
Ochs/Corbis

9. David Bowie plays
an acoustic Espana
12-string guitar at
the time of the
release of Space
Oddity in 1969 in
London
Photograph:
Michael Ochs
Archives/Getty
Images

10. Bowie circa 1970
Photograph:
Popperfoto/Getty Images

11. David Bowie at his home, Haddon Hall, at Beckenham, Kent, in 1971
Photograph: Alamy

12. The 1972 album cover Hunky Dory

13. David Bowie with Fan in 1973 in Los Angeles. Photograph: Michael Ochs/Corbis

14. The British singer David
Bowie, during a performance
in New York (USA) in 1974..
(BETTMANN/CORBIS)

15. David Bowie in 1976
ANDREW KENT /
RETNAUK (CORBIS).

16. One of Bowie’s most memorable incarnations - Ziggy Stardust. Photograph: Ilpo Musto/REX Shutterstock

17. David Bowie is seen off at the station by his wife Angie in 1973. Photograph: Smith/Getty Images

20. The cover of
Bowie’s album
Aladdin Sane,
which was
released on 13
April, 1973
Photograph:
Getty Images

21. David Bowie performing as Ziggy Stardust at Radio City Music Hall in February 1973. Photograph: Neal Preston/Corbis

22. Bowie bites the strings of his guitarist, Mick Ronson, in 1973. Photograph: Rex Features

23. Bowie posing for a
shoot by Terry O’Neill
in 1974
Photograph: Terry
O'Neill/Getty Images

24. Bowie at Hilversum TV studios for Top Pop in 1975. Photograph: Sunshine/REX Shutterstock

25. David Bowie in 1976.

26. David Bowie in 1978.

27. David Bowie performs live at Ahoy, Rotterdam on on the final leg of his 1976 Thin White Duke World Tour. Photograph: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns

28. In the 1976 film The Man Who fell To Earth. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext/BRITISH LION

29. David Bowie in 1978. HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS

30. David Bowie en 1978.( Corbis)

31. Bowie onstage on Low/Heroes 1978 world tour. Photograph: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns

32. Photograph: Bob King/Redferns

33. Ann Magnuson and David Bowie in the movie 'The Hunger', in 1983. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER PICTURES/SUNSET BOULEVARD/CORBIS

34. David Bowie drinks with Paul Simonon of The Clash, following the group’s concert at Shea Stadium, Queens, New York City 1982. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

35. David Bowie performing at Wembley, London in 1983. Photograph: Kevin.Mazur/WireImage

36. Portrait of singer David Bowie in 1983. RALPH GATTI (AFP)

37. David Bowie during a concert in Devore, California on May 30, 1983. (ROGER RESSMEYER/CORBIS)

38. Iman & David Bowie

39. David Bowie performs on stage during the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium 1985 in London. Photograph: Georges De Keerle/Getty Images

40. David Bowie on his Glass
Spider tour in Rotterdam
1987. Photograph: Ilpo
Musto/REX/Shutterstock

41. David Bowie in 1991. Photograph: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock

42. David Bowie performing with his
new band Tin Machine in 1991.
Photograph: Ian
Dickson/REX/Shutterstock

43. The British musician David Bowie during a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland) in 2002. FABRICE COFFRINI (EFE)

44. David Bowie with
his wife, Iman, in
New York in 2002.
SUZANNE
PLUNKETT (AP)