Debbie Harry thinks of David Bowie as being "chameleon-like".

David Bowie

David Bowie

The Blondie lead singer said that although Bowie was among the most recognisable faces in the world, he was often able to go about his day-to-day life unnoticed.

She recalled: "It always seemed very important to have talked with him and to have met him. One thing that really surprised me about him was he was chameleon-like, which is obvious in the transition of characters he developed over the years, but you'd never notice him if he was out walking in the street.

"He was very clever, he was very good at that: he walked around the city streets wherever he was and no one ever really recognised him."

Bowie remained tight-lipped about his cancer until the end of his life and Harry has likened his released of music referencing his impending death to the work of a "Romantic poet".

She told the Observer newspaper: "The thing that's really great about this is that - putting myself in his place, and thinking, 'wow, what a great idea this is, to hold on to' - instead of lying around being sick and miserable, he took the energy he had left and was creative, doing this thing that he liked the best.

"So now I think that that's the most admirable part of it, although it's a little hard to take right now. It's a great tribute to his strength and creativity. He had a totality to his vision, and he carried it through to the end."