--- title: David Bowie GIF Captures 50 Years of the Rockstar's Looks description: An animated GIF that depicts his ever-changing appearance is becoming one of the most widely shared tributes on social media. canonical: https://time.com/4175516/david-bowie-gif-captures-50-years-of-rockstars-iconic-looks/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-11T18:20:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:28:31.782Z og:title: This David Bowie GIF Captures 50 Years of the Rockstar's Iconic Looks og:description: "A little token of appreciation for someone that has inspired me so much over the years" og:url: https://time.com/4175516/david-bowie-gif-captures-50-years-of-rockstars-iconic-looks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This David Bowie GIF Captures 50 Years of the Rockstar's Iconic Looks twitter:description: "A little token of appreciation for someone that has inspired me so much over the years" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This David Bowie GIF Captures 50 Years of the Rockstar's Iconic Looks  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 11, 2016 6:20 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 11, 2016 6:20 PM UTC The world is [mourning the death](http://time.com/4174828/david-bowie-dead-cancer-69-blackstar/?xid=homepage) of legendary rockstar David Bowie, who died [Sunday](http://time.com/4174815/david-bowie-death-cancer/?xid=homepage) after an 18-month battle with cancer, two days after his 69th birthday. Now, an animated GIF that depicts the Starman’s ever-changing appearance throughout his five-decade career is becoming one of the most widely shared tributes on social media. **Read More:** [See Intimate Photos of David Bowie Throughout His Career](http://time.com/4117090/sukita-david-bowie-photos/?xid=homepage) The animation was created by U.K. artist [Helen Green](https://www.facebook.com/helengreenart/?fref=nf) in honor of Bowie’s 68th birthday in 2015\. It is composed of 29 different drawings and took 35 hours to complete. In a [post on Bowie’s official Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/davidbowie/photos/a.424610777664.193516.30899502664/10152513486457665/?type=3&theater), Green spoke about what influenced her to illustrate the GIF. “It’s become somewhat of a tradition for me to create something to celebrate David Bowie’s birthday – a little token of appreciation for someone that has inspired me so much over the years,” she said. “It was quite a triumph to see all 29 drawings in motion for the first time.” Social media erupted with messages of [mourning for Bowie](http://time.com/4174828/david-bowie-dead-cancer-69-blackstar/), including from several of his contemporaries and peers in the music industry. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4175516/david-bowie-gif-captures-50-years-of-rockstars-iconic-looks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4175516/david-bowie-gif-captures-50-years-of-rockstars-iconic-looks/"},"headline":"This David Bowie GIF Captures 50 Years of the Rockstar's Iconic Looks","datePublished":"2016-01-11T18:20:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:28:31.782Z","description":"\"A little token of appreciation for someone that has inspired me so much over the years\"","url":"https://time.com/4175516/david-bowie-gif-captures-50-years-of-rockstars-iconic-looks/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Music","Arts","Artists","David Bowie topic","singers","musicians"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4175516/david-bowie-gif-captures-50-years-of-rockstars-iconic-looks/","name":"This David Bowie GIF Captures 50 Years of the Rockstar's Iconic Looks"}}]}] ```