ROCK icon David Bowie - in his many musical guises - has been remembered across East Lancashire after his death from cancer at the age of 69.

The Thin White Duke played only once locally - a Bank Holiday concert at Blackburn's King George's Hall in May 1973.

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But his influence, from Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane to his bleaker Berlin output and 80s reinvention, has been felt across the region.

Music shop boss Paul McGowan vowed to play Bowie's back catalogue from his eponymous debut right through to Black Star, his final offering released last week, at his Townsend Record stores in Clitheroe, Great Harwood and Chorley.

"I found out driving into work this morning - and my heart sank when I realised they were talking about Bowie in the past tense," said Paul.

"I was holding it together, as they were talking about it, then they played Heroes and I was just a mess."

Even though he works in the music industry, Mr McGowan was adamant there hadn't even been 'a whisper' about the cancer which claimed Bowie's life after an 18- month battle.

"It was like a seismic shift when he first came along - it was just so different from anything which had gone before," added Paul, whose favourite song is Station To Station's Wild Is The Wind.

Several celebrities from East Lancashire also shared their thoughts on the singer's demise on social media.

Accrington's former X Factor Reece Bibby said: "Wow such sad news. This man will be remembered for generations."

Clarets star Joey Barton said: "The world has lost a good humanist today. David Bowie. A one-off. A man who played by his own rules. A legend."

Bowie's contribution was keenly felt among fledgling rock fans, with the single Blackburn date looming large in the memories of several.

Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, who launched his Red or Dead chain locally, recalled in a previous interview how much Bowie's appearance, on the Aladdin Sane tour, affected his 13-year-old self when he attended the Blackburn concert.

"The thing that sticks with me is that by the end of the concert he was up there in a big pair of platforms, a white loincloth around his midriff and nothing else apart from his makeup and a streak of hair. The whole place went absolutely wild."