Into the Minds

Tributes have poured in for singer David Bowie, who died Sunday aged 69. Politicians, entertainers, actors and astronauts have expressed their sadness at his death. Here is a look at some of the reactions:

Bruce Springsteen:

“Over here on E Street, we’re feeling the great loss of David Bowie. David was a visionary artist and an early supporter of our music. Always changing and ahead of the curve, he was an artist whose excellence you aspired to. He will be sorely missed.”

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Debbie Harry:

“Without this visionary and his friend Iggy Pop where would Blondie be today? Silly question and one that can’t be answered really but there is no doubt in my mind that Bowie played a big part in our future successes. As for now, love you David Bowie.”

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Mick Jagger:

`‘David was always an inspiration to me and a true original. He was wonderfully shameless in his work. We had so many good times together… He was my friend. I will never forget him.“

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Elton John:

’'I am still in shock. Never saw it coming. … My deepest condolences to Iman and the family. An amazing life. An amazing career.”

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Bette Midler:

“Bowie WAS The Man Who Fell to Earth. Curious, brilliant, enigmatic and sweet. We needed him and he appeared, changing our perceptions forever.”

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Yoko Ono:

“As John & I had very few friends, we felt David was as close as family. Sweet memories will stay with us forever.”

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Bowie’s son, director Duncan Jones, posted a picture of his smiling father on Twitter:

“Very sorry and sad to say it’s true. I’ll be offline for a while. Love to all.”

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Yusuf Islam, also known as Cat Stevens:

“He has left us for another world, beyond the darkness of this present one vividly so depicted in the shadows of his last video. I truly pray he’s welcomed to the light by his Maker in that great today, which has no tomorrow.”

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Irish singer Hozier:

“Unthinkable. The world has lost one of the most important artists and icons of our time. I was moved immeasurably by David Bowie. RIP.”

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Mariah Carey:

“David Bowie we will remember your brilliance. Heartfelt condolences to family, friends & fans around the world.”

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Astronaut Tim Peake, who is aboard the International Space Station:

“Saddened to hear David Bowie has lost his battle with cancer - his music was an inspiration to many.”

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Josh Groban:

“He never seemed of this earth. Now he’s left it. He bent rules, gender, genres, and our minds. RIP David Bowie. One. Of. A. Kind.”

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Former astronaut Chris Hadfield, who performed “Space Oddity,” on the International Space Station in 2013.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to stardust. Your brilliance inspired us all. Goodbye Starman.”

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German Foreign Office:

“Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among (hash)Heroes. Thank you for helping to bring down the (hash)wall.”

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The Rolling Stones:

“The Rolling Stones are shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the death of our dear friend David Bowie. As well as being a wonderful and kind man, he was an extraordinary artist, and a true original.”

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Madonna:

“Im Devastated! This great Artist changed my life! First concert i ever saw in Detroit!”

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Paul McCartney:

“His music played a very strong part in British musical history and I’m proud to think of the huge influence he has had on people all around the world.

’'I send my deepest sympathies to his family and will always remember the great laughs we had through the years. His star will shine in the sky forever.”

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Iggy Pop:

“David’s friendship was the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person. He was the best there is.”

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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling:

“I wish he could have stayed on earth longer. RIP.”

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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby:

“I remember sitting listening to his songs endlessly in the `70s particularly and always really relishing what he was, what he did, the impact he had.”

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British Prime Minister David Cameron:

“Genius is an over-used word but I think musically, creatively, artistically David Bowie was a genius.”

“For someone of my age he provided a lot of the soundtrack of our lives.”

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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair:

“From the time I saw his Ziggy Stardust concert as a student, I thought he was a brilliant artist and an exciting and interesting human being.”

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Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny who worked with David Bowie on the song “This Is Not America”:

“He carried the kind of broad view of music and art that was inspiring to me as a collaborator and a fan. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to be around him.”

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London Mayor Boris Johnson:

“No-one in our age has better deserved to be called a genius.”

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Tony Visconti, Bowie’s longtime producer:

“David always did it his way and his way was the least obvious way. He was a true genius who proved it over and over again through groundbreaking albums. I co-produced his new album `Blackstar.’ He sang with powerful energy and determination, his performances were brilliant. He will live forever in our hearts, mine especially.”

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Comedian Ricky Gervais:

“I just lost a hero. RIP David Bowie.”

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Rapper Kanye West:

“David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.”

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Singer Pharrell Williams:

“David Bowie was a true innovator, a true creative. May he rest in peace.”

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Actor Mark Ruffalo:

“Rip Father of all us freaks. Sad sad day. Love always.”

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Columbia Records:

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of David Bowie. It was an honor and a privilege to release his music to the world.”

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Jim Nicola, artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop, where the musical “Lazarus” is playing with Bowie songs:

Question: In this big, epic story, who is your character, Ned Stark?

SEAN BEAN: He’s a guy who’s from the north of the land. He has a family. He’s a quite happily married man. He’s a hard, strong man who’s very loyal and vulnerable, which is part of his downfall.

Would you call him the hero of the show?

BEAN: Yeah.

Having been in The Lord of the Rings, and now doing this, was there any fear of being typecast as the powerful warrior, or is that a good thing to be typecast as?

BEAN: It’s a good thing to be typecast, isn’t it? I suppose it’s similar to The Lord of the Rings in its size, its quality, its magic and its danger. I happen to enjoy playing the kind of roles with riding horses, swinging swords, having fights, wearing wigs and growing beards, even though I don’t, first thing in the morning when it takes you about three hours to get ready. I do have affinity to that kind of role. I think the good thing aboutGame of Thrones is that there is such score for it. The Lord of the Rings was three films, and they thoroughly researched it, and it was very well-replicated on screen. But, with what (author) George [R.R. Martin] has created, it’s a very different world. It goes on much, much further and much longer, and there’s many more twists and turns, but I certainly enjoy this genre.

The Lord of the Rings was quite epic in its production scope, and this seem to have the same epicness, but with slightly less resources. Does that affect you as an actor?

BEAN: I didn’t find that it affected me at all. I think the amount of production value that was put into Game of Thrones was incredible, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen on any other production, includingThe Lord of the Rings. It was a wonderful production, of course. I was very proud to be part of that. But, I was absolutely impressed by the detail, the sheer size of it, the craftsmanship in the studio and the sets for Game of Thrones. Everything was so detailed and so vast, and it was a lot of work. It was like working on a big feature film, every week. Each of the 10 episodes felt like a pretty hefty feature film. I think we really established a grand size. And, the fact it’s been done by HBO means you’re in good standing. You’ve got good people behind you. As I said, it’s an edgy, sexy, violent, dark, brutal piece where nobody’s safe, and there are so many twists and turns, and the characters are so well drawn. I think everybody who sees this is hopefully fascinated by what we’ve achieved.

You did 15 months on The Lord of the Rings and you have 10 episodes a season for Game of Thrones. Does that compare at all?

BEAN: There are comparisons. It was the other end of the world, where we were doing The Lord of the Rings, and we were filming in Northern Ireland for the majority of this. They’re very different stories. This is a very edgy story. Everybody is having to watch their backs. I think (author) George [R.R. Martin] has created his own world, as did Tolkien.

Is the magnitude of the work similar?

BEAN: Yeah, it is. It was for me, especially because, in The Lord of the Rings, I was playing Boromir and I was only in the first one, basically. But, for this, it was quite intensive and I started off quite intensively in the first six or seven weeks, getting into the part. And it was squashed into six months, so I was doing the same amount of work, in half the amount of time.

This is television, so are there still really physical battles for you to fight?

BEAN: Oh, yeah. We choreographed that for weeks in advance, so we know exactly what we’re doing on the day and we can adapt to it or improvise. That’s all real stuff, and that was hard because that was in Malta, where it was nearly 100 degrees and we were all covered in leather in fur, so we had ice packs on. It was good fun. It’s great. It’s exhilarating.

Because the book is told through point of view chapters, and all the major scenes dealing with Ned are through Ned’s point of view, did that help you find this character, as opposed to it being just a straight narrative?

BEAN: It did, yeah. You tend to glean much more information about your character from what other people say about you, rather than how it’s described in the books. It was an interesting story for Ned because he’s on a downward spiral and he’s in a snake pit, surrounded by back-stabbers and corrupt people. It was interesting to read the book thoroughly, rather than just Ned’s chapters.

Is he the last noble, just man in this world?

BEAN: At this moment in time, yeah. His honor and his loyalty is such that it brings about his downfall. Because he is so rigidly honorable and so loyal, that’s all he knows. Even though that’s a virtue, in Ned’s case, it’s his downfall.

Do you feel any additional pressure, knowing that the fans of this book basically hung their hopes and dreams for this series on you doing this role?

BEAN: Yeah, that’s quite a responsibility. Obviously, I was delighted when I first met (executive producers) David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss]. I read the book and found it very exciting, very luxuriant, very dangerous, very edgy and very sexy. That’s very flattering. I’m very flattered that I was chosen to play this part.

Were you concerned about signing on to do a series for a longer period of time than a film takes?

BEAN: I always prefer to work intensively on something and then move on to something else. Even though they are marvelous books and marvelous pieces of work, I prefer not to get stuck in something that takes five or six years of my life.

Do you have any films coming out?

BEAN: There’s a historical film, called Age of Heroes, which is all about the Commandos in the Second World War. And, I’ve done Soldier’s of Fortune.

What’s going on with A Woman of No Importance?