Nearly five years since the loss of her husband David Bowie, Iman has shared some of her dearest memories of the music legend in a new interview.
On January 10th 2016, a shadow was cast over the world. David Bowie had lost his battle with liver cancer just two days after his 69th birthday. Nearly five years on from one of music’s darkest days, Iman has shared some of her fondest memories of life with her late husband, remembering how their 24-year relationship was actually quite “ordinary.”
“David is in our hearts and minds on a daily basis, for all of us,” she told Harper’s Bazaar about her enduring love for the rock god.
Iman and Bowie were married from 1992 to his death in 2016. Their daughter, Alexandria ‘Lexi’ Zahra Jones, was born in 2000. During her interview with Bazaar, the Somali supermodel and philanthropist revealed that she had promised Lexi she would never remarry.
“You know, this was my true love,” Iman said. “My daughter once asked me if I would ever marry again and I said, ‘never’.”
Maybe I’m weak but I haven’t been able to make it through Space Ofdity even once without a good sob since he passed.
— Edgar Allan Poseur 🦇 (@Lasluvcatt) January 10, 2020
Despite their high-profile relationship, Iman revealed that their life together was incredibly normal. “[It] could not have been more regular! It was a really everyday marriage,” she told reporters.
“He was a very funny, warm gentleman – you know, everyone talks about him being futuristic, but no, he was not, he liked more than anything to wear a three-piece suit. It was a beautiful, ordinary life and that was what was great about it. We could live in New York, pick up our daughter from school, walk everywhere… You know, I wish we had had more years.”
Can’t believe it’s been 4 years 💔 #RIPDavidBowie pic.twitter.com/G2EnR7tVOE
— Chloe 🍄 (@DollyWhiskers) January 10, 2020
Although Iman describes the upcoming anniversary as “the saddest time,” she finds happiness in the fact “his fans are still around, his music is still relevant.” The anniversary became more joyous to the model after an incident last year, as she reveals to Bazaar.
Spending January 10th 2020 hiking by herself in the San Francisco Redwoods, she noticed a bluebird fly right past her. “A bluebird, above all things!” Bowie’s final antemortem single Lazarus includes the lines, “You know, I’ll be free/ Just like that bluebird/ Now ain’t that just like me?”
“I asked the tour guide, and he said, ‘Oh, they’re very rare here, bluebirds’,” she continued. “And so now, instead of remembering it as sad, it is more of a joyous day.”
There’s a star man waiting in the sky. #RIPDavidBowie. We miss you. pic.twitter.com/0jiSc26sL9
— Lauren MacAskill (@Laur_MacAskill) January 10, 2020
As January 8th draws nearer, the world prepares to celebrate what would have been David Bowie’s 74th birthday. Music stars such as Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, Perry Farrell, and many others will come together for a livestream tribute, A Bowie Celebration: Just for One Day!, to celebrate one of the most influential musicians of all time.
