Paris has named a street after rock icon David Bowie, the first of its kind to honor the singer eight years after his death.
"Rue David Bowie" was officially opened in the capital's 13th arrondissement on the city's Left Bank.
"Long live rock, long live pop music, long live David Bowie and long live Paris," said Jerome Comet, mayor of the 13th arrondissement, at the unveiling of the street sign.
Koumet, a Bowie fan, launched the idea for the street in early 2020 and later that year received approval from Paris authorities.
The thoroughfare, about 50 meters long, was previously known to city planners as "VoieDZ/13".
There is no record of a street named after the musician anywhere else.
Bowie, who died on January 10, 2016 of liver cancer, would have been 77 years old.
He was one of the most influential and best-selling musicians of the 20th century.
Among his signature songs and albums are "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" and "Aladdin Sane", as well as the commercial hits "Let's Dance" and "China Girl", as well as darkly experimental works such as "Low".
Paris played a smaller role in Bowie's life than London, Berlin and Los Angeles, but French avant-garde theater culture influenced his visual style.
Jerome Solieni, who is writing a biography of the singer, says that it was in the French capital that Bowie declared his love for top model Iman on a boat on the Seine River. The couple married in 1992. /BGNES
