Rarely has an artist’s death impacted so many people so deeply. The world was stunned, and seemed to stop for a bit. Maybe it was because his death was so sudden and without warning. Maybe we were all just unable to come to grips with the fact that this man, who was so much larger than life, could die just like the rest of us.

Bowie defied genre. He defied gender. He goes down in the record books as one of the most innovative artists to ever live with a career spanning almost 50 years. He reached his first creative peak shortly after his debut album, David Bowie, was released in 1967 with the likes of Hunky Dory (1971) and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). However he didn’t stop there. Time and again Bowie reinvented his sound and persona. On January 10th, 2016, just two days prior to leaving us, Bowie released yet another critically lauded album, Blackstar.

He leaves behind a prolific and inimitable body of work that will forever astound and touch listeners. In his honor, we have created this playlist of his hits and hidden gems from 1969-1979.