Today, as declared by The Daily Mail, the world’s first David Bowie statue was unveiled in Aylesbury, England. Aylesbury, a town in Buckinghamshire, holds a special place in David Bowie history, given that the town’s Friars nightclub is where the rock legend debuted the character of Ziggy Stardust, as well as of his two albums, during the early 1970s.
The life-size bronze statue featuring depictions of both Bowie in 2002 and his alter ego Ziggy Stardust is named Earthly Messenger and was created by sculptor Andrew Sinclair. Notably, above the statue is a set of speakers, which will play a David Bowie song each hour. The David Bowie statue was unveiled in Aylesbury’s Market Square yesterday on March 25th by singer-songwriter Howard Jones.
In addition to grants, a large portion of the funds for Earthly Messenger came from a £100,000 crowdfunding campaign led by local music promoter David Stopps. However, this is not the only Bowie-related memorial that Stopps has masterminded—earlier in March, Stopps also launched a petition to rename the town to “Aylesbowie.” Stopps explained to The Daily Telegraph that “The reaction to the statue has been so positive.” He continued, “When you get something like this people either love it or hate it. If people say ‘I hate it’ or ‘I absolutely love it’ then you know it’s real art. That’s the definition of art.”
One such person who loves the statue is Rob Stringer, the CEO of Sony Music, who described Earthly Messenger as “beautiful.” He explained, “I thought it would be one figurine and it’s actually a complete compendium of his life. … To work with [Bowie] on the last two records was very emotional but I got to work with somebody who, when I was growing up in Aylesbury in the 70s, was the pop culture legend.”
[H/T Daily Mail]