David Bowie has died at the age of 69 after losing an 18-month battle with cancer, his official Facebook and Twitter accounts confirmed on Monday.

“David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer,” a statement posted on the star’s official Facebook page said.

“While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.”

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Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, confirmed the news via a tweet:

Kanye West was one of the first musicians to tweet his condolences shortly after the news broke:

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/686449257767776256

Meanwhile, the most liked comment on the Facebook posting read: “I’m confused, shocked, and I don’t know what to believe. My heart nearly stopped reading this post. I hope this is not true, but if it is, I am truly, truly sorry for the loss of such a great man, performer, musician, and inspiration. My heart goes out to you, David Bowie, the blackstar.”

As BuzzFeed points out, Bowie had only just released an album on January 8, his 69th birthday.

https://twitter.com/jwoodham/status/686455370638692353

On behalf of VentureBeat, R.I.P. David Bowie. <3

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