This year’s BRIT Awards featured a touching tribute to David Bowie with Annie Lennox and David Bowie both speaking on the music legend and Lorde performing a tribute but but fittingly it was Bowie’s words that resonated the strongest.
Bowie was awarded the Icon Award which was accepted by close friend and actor Gary Oldman, who took the opportunity to reveal some of Bowie’s most poignant words.
“In recent years David sparingly spoke about music and his process; but in one of these rare instances, he graciously and elegantly expounded,” Oldman said to the audience before moving onto Bowie’s words.
”Music has given me over 40 years of extraordinary experiences,” Bowie told Oldman.
“I can’t say that life’s pains or more tragic episodes have been diminished because of it, but it has allowed me so many moments of companionship when I have been lonely and sublime means of communications when I have wanted to touch people. It has been my doorway of perception and the house that I live in.’”
Oldman continued to pay tribute to Bowie, revealing his astute sense of humour even as he was fighting cancer.
“In his very unique way he reminded us to never take ourselves too seriously,” he said.
“David was funny, he was hilariously so, the laughs were many and massive and I shall miss them.”
Even when Bowie revealed to Oldman that he had cancer he said, “the good news is I have my cheekbones back.”
Oldman accepted the award from Annie Lennox who preceded the speech with her own tribute in which she called him “a cutting edge artistic genius.”
“David Bowie is deeply fixed in the British culture, influencing every decade up until the present day,” she continued.
Following their touching tributes Bowie’s own backing band who last played together during his 2003/04 Reality tour took to the stage to run through a melody of his hits. They were joined by Lorde during Life On Mars.
Watch: Gary Oldman Accept Bowie’s Icon Award At The 2016 BRITs
