David bowie’s massive influence is a lot wider than can be catalogued, but one way
is through samples and quotations.
The highest profile would definitely be… Vanilla Ice
That bassline famously quotes Under Pressure by Bowie & Queen.
Though Mr. Ice also denied using bowie’s song –
"We sampled it from them, but it's not the same bassline"
– he eventually had to share songwriting credits and a cut of his royalties.
Another big one is Puff Daddy’s “Been Around the World.”
Puffy sampled Bowie’s biggest commercial success — the title track from 1983’s
Let’s Dance. But there are so, so many more less obvious ones, "Star Guitar" by the Chemical
Brothers has a very inventive sample from "Starman" off Ziggy Stardust.
And Beck’s “Debra” basically takes one melody from “Win” off Bowie’s 1975 album
Young Americans, and stretches it into a 6-minute, hyundai name-checking masterpiece
“...i said lady, step inside my Hyundai…”
Jay Z sampled him in The Takeover.
Lady Gaga sampled the same song.
Nine Inch Nails sampled him.
Groove Armada sampled him.
Hell even Unkle sampled him.
And when he became famous he championed lesser known influences on him like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.
And he continued throughout his life – he helped the Arcade Fire reach the
masses when they were coming up in 2003. Beyond the myriad of artists he inspired – his
core message to be yourself, no matter how weird, how different from anybody else – that
might be what endures the most of him: