‘The Beautiful Outsider’ Light of Day performer Willie Nile remembers David Bowie

It was definitely a "where were you when you heard the news?' when it came to the passing of David Bowie which was seven years ago today when we lost the "Thin White Duke."

When it happened, I reached out to both Uncle Floyd whom Bowie was such a fan of that he had written a song about him called "Slip Away," and Willie Nile who was preparing to play at the Light of Day concert which he will be at again this year.

You can see Willie Nile Jan. 13 at the Stone Pony "Asbury Angels" show performing with Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers, Tangiers Blues Band, and more by clicking here. Here's the conversation I had with Nile who was a huge Bowie fan the night after he passed.

"You know I love Uncle Floyd's right remembrances," says Nile. "I woke up this morning as well. Really shocked and saddened to hear that David had passed away. He was the beautiful outsider."

"I remember many things. I went to see him in the Elephant Man on Broadway. He somehow made it ok to be an outsider. He was the beautiful outsider."

"My younger brother John", says Nile "Bowie was his hero, and he met Bowie when my brother as a young teenager moved to the UK."

"The stories I hear from my brother John, years ago to my drummer, Alex Alexander, who played on the album David put out two years ago. He couldn't talk about it while it was happening but afterward, he said, What a gentleman he was What a classy guy."

"And you know, he was original. How many of the icons that we love and there's so many of them you know in the music that we've grown up with that he was like, he was always his own man. Always classy. Always interesting."

"My memories of David are of a guy who helped change the world and make it okay for people who felt outside the box that it was okay to be strange here he embraced the strange there's something to be said for that because all of us in some way or outside the norm and He epitomizes that."

Nile got emotional as he continued.

"I'm in my apartment right now. And I just found out tonight that he lived like six blocks away" Nile continued,  "When we're off the phone I'm gonna go walk over there but some flowers outside the building where he lived."

To see the whole Light of Day Events schedule click here

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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