As soon as the news broke, fans began making pilgrimages to pay tribute to the singer at places in London, Berlin, and New York where the singer lived or worked.Flowers were laid outside what used to be the Three Tuns pub in London, where Bowie set up the Beckenham Arts Lab in the late 1960s, and in front of a mural in the singer's birthplace of Brixton, London. Candles and bouquets were left outside Bowie's apartment building on Lafayette Street in Soho, New York, where the doorman told the Guardian no one knew he was sick.Bowie had kept a low profile after undergoing emergency heart surgery in 2004, and rumors that he was ill had circled for years. But in recent years he had come back into the spotlight with the release of two albums, The Next Day in 2013 and Blackstar, which was released on January 8, Bowie's 69th birthday. The title track Lazarus opens with the line "Look up here, I'm in heaven."Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among #Heroes. Thank you for helping to bring down the #wall. https://t.co/soaOUWiyVl #RIPDavidBowie
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) January 11, 2016
Madonna said that Bowie had changed her life, and she was "devastated." "Talented. Unique. Genius. Game Changer. The Man who Fell to Earth. Your Spirit Lives on Forever! #rebelheart," she tweeted.RIP David Bowie. A true InspIration pic.twitter.com/My0BrfSqgS
— PIXIES (@PIXIES) January 11, 2016
British Prime Minister David Cameron, leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn, and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon all tweeted their own tributes, and eulogies also came from some more unexpected quarters. The Vatican's culture minister Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi tweeted some of the lyrics from Space Oddity, the single that propelled Bowie to fame in Europe in 1969.So lucky to have met you!!!! Hot Tramp I love you So! ?? #rebelheart pic.twitter.com/INKPRCeofK
— Madonna (@Madonna) January 11, 2016
Sunderland AFC, one of the UK's Premier League soccer teams, tweeted a picture of a ticket for a gig Bowie played in the club's former stadium in 1987.Ground Control to Major TomCommencing countdown, engines onCheck ignition and may God's love be with you (David Bowie)
— Gianfranco Ravasi (@CardRavasi) January 11, 2016
Reuters contributed to this report.Rest in peace David Bowie, who played Roker Park in June 1987. He was the only music artist to headline the stadium. pic.twitter.com/vGfCWftY7U
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 11, 2016