Oh! You Pretty Thing's

HE is the man who fell to Earth whose ch-ch-changes are adored by millions of fans and inspired generations of musicians, from Madonna to Lady Gaga.

- BY MATT ROPER

But David Bowie's other-worldly creativity and powers of reinvention left an indelible imprint on fashion, art and culture, as well as music.

The world lost Bowie when he died in 2016 aged 69 but his life and work are about to be honoured with a permanent gallery at the Olympic Park in East London.

The David Bowie Centre, at the V&A East Storehouse location, opens in September with more than 90,000 Bowie-related items, including his costumes, sketches, paintings, writings and set lists.

Among the exhibits offering a glimpse into the mind of rock's enduring enigma are a paint palette covered in the last colours he used, an asymmetric knitted catsuit he wore as Ziggy Stardust, and lyrics he cut up and mixed up to write his 1977 song Blackout

Bowie's lifelong friend Geoff MacCormack says the new permanent gallery shows just how much of a legacy the Oh! You Pretty Things star left - and how much he hoarded.

Geoff, who was also Bowie's backing singer and percussionist, says: "David became a fashion icon. His whole show was about what he was wearing and his different personas. He was very clever at constantly changing himself."

Geoff, who went to Burnt Ash Primary School in Bromley, Kent, with Bowie, says: "Our friendship was based on the appreciation of music and humour."

"We used to listen to Radio Luxembourg together. David's dad bought him a little record player, and he was the only kid I knew who had one. I remember listening to rock'n'roll, and seeing his eyes open wide.

"We were born just after the war, we still had ration books and there were bomb sites all over the place. It was a pretty grey world until that music.

"He was fascinated by the stuff coming over from America, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, it was just like alien music, slightly disturbing but in a cool way. We were at the birth of rock'n'roll. It felt like a whole new world.