MARYWOOD UNIVERSITY -- Music icon David Bowie has died following a battle with cancer.
In a career spanning more than five decades, Bowie was an innovator in music, film, fashion, and more recently, theater.
In tribute to David Bowie, a radio station in Lackawanna County dedicated a couple of hours Tuesday morning to playing nothing but Bowie's music.
The DJs we talked with at Marywood University's VMFM 91.7 told us it was fitting to honor such a legend in music.
As soon as Mark Ruddy heard David Bowie had died, he knew Marywood University's VMFM 91.7 had to do something in his honor. So for several hours on the day we learned the music legend had died, nothing but his music aired on this station in tribute.
"We go back to 1967 in our music library and the first artist is David Bowie, so it's only natural. We've covered almost five decades of David Bowie music," said Ruddy.
Some northeastern Pennsylvania fans saw David Bowie in person. He had a concert on Montage Mountain in 2004.
But most music listeners know Bowie from radio stations and his music connected with a variety of tastes.
"You'll hear him on soft rock stations, 80s stations, classic rock stations; he had a very big appeal to all audiences," said Ruddy.
"I think he's in part responsible for today's music. He dabbled in glam, pop, in rock, so I think any time you have someone as influential musically as David Bowie, I think it's important to pay tribute," said Ernie Mengoni.
Bowie had a varied style in music and in looks, and his impact spanned generations.
VMFM is a college radio station. The students are still on break, but those who help run the station say they know, respect, and play his music often.
"We have David Bowie music in our music library dating back to 1967 so we could do more than a few hours if we wanted to but we chose to do just a few hours to pay homage," said Mengoni.
VMFM 91.7 tweeted that it will resume its David Bowie tribute Monday night, starting at 7 p.m., playing everything they have from Bowie chronologically, including his new album released last Friday.
You can stream VMFM 91.7 online here.