Throughout his career, David Bowie seemed to be such an otherworldly figure that it was hard to imagine him being affected by something so ordinary, so human as illness or death.

So the news this morning on his official Facebook page that he had died peacefully after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer, came as a truly seismic shock. The outpouring of grief, from pop stars to prime ministers, marks the loss not just of an iconic musician, but of ...