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If you thought David Bowie’s days of reinvention were over, then think again. As we enter what would have been the Brixton-Born, Beckenham-bred legend’s 75th year (his birthday was January 8), Madame Tussauds has announced that it will be retiring its old waxwork of the legendary musician and replacing it with a new one.
In this it’s considerably aided by the fact that in 1983 – the zenith of his ‘Let’s Dance’-era popularity – a then 36-year-old Bowie had a full sitting, where hundreds of measurements were taken, as well as records of skin tone and hair colour, and whatever the hell else you need to jot down to make a really bang on wax effigy.
To mark the imminent arrival of Bowie Mk 2, Tussauds has released some never-before-seen photos of the sitting, and we surely can agree that whatever your opinions on ‘Let’s Dance’ – and let's be honest, you're probably dead inside if you don’t at least like the singles – he looks cool as fuck.
We’re advised to stay tuned to the Madame’s social media over the next few weeks and months for teasers of the new Bowie model, which will take pride of place in the new music zone, which launches in March. The current model is reflective of Bowie’s most commercially successful era, but not necessarily the one he’s now chiefly remembered for, and one assumes that the new model is likely to rock a considerably different vibe, though with so many iconic incarnations it’s difficult to know which they’ll settle on: Ziggy seems obvious to the point of being a bit basic; the Thin White Duke is maybe a slightly too fascist way to remember him; there’s definitely some mileage in the grizzled seer of his final ‘Blackstar’ days; or perhaps the iconic wedge haircut of his ultra-hipster ‘Low’ era might be a happy compromise. In any case, not too long to wait.
Happy birthday for last Saturday, David! Everything has been fairly dreadful since you left, but at least we'll soon have a new wax you.
The new David Bowie model will be unveiled in March. Get a sneak peek via Madame Tussauds’ social media channel, which you can find out about here.
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