David Bowie dead: Commander Chris Hadfield pays tribute to writer of Space Oddity, after astronaut recorded it in orbit

Commander Chris Hadfield has paid tribute to David Bowie, after the singer and songwriter died at the age of 69.

Commander Hadfield became hugely famous after performing Mr Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ actually in space. The video showed Commander Hadfield flying around the space station while singing the song, in a performance that Mr Bowie said was perhaps the most poignant rendition of it ever.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to stardust,” Commander Hadfield tweeted in reference to David Bowie’s famous song. “Your brilliance inspired us all. Goodbye Starman.”

Mr Bowie had his own relationship with space, writing songs such as Starman and Life on Mars about the world beyond Earth. He also appeared in science fiction films, helping bring the genre — and space itself — into pop culture.

But ‘Space Oddity’ was perhaps Mr Bowie’s most famous song about space, and was his first hit single. And when it was performed by Commander Hadfield it became the soundtrack to the first ever music video performed in space.

That video would eventually be taken down, as a result of a copyright dispute between various parties. But after Mr Bowie’s support it came back up again, and can finally be seen online.