David Bowie has reportedly been secretly cremated in New York, without any of his friends or family present. The legendary singer, who passed away on Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer, is said to have told friends that he wanted to "go without any fuss" and not have a funeral or memorial service in his honour.
Despite reports that friends and family were preparing to say their final farewell at a private funeral service, a source in New York has told The Mirror that David's body was actually cremated shortly after he died.
David Bowie has reportedly been cremated in New York
"There is no public or private service or a public memorial. There is nothing," the source said, adding: "In many respects you don't need a memorial or service to remember David by… you have his music instead.
"He would have wanted to just disappear with no fuss, no big show, no fanfare. This would totally be his style. His last album Blackstar was very much his goodbye to fans instead."
Indeed thousands of fans have bought both David's new and classic albums to remember the star following his death, and he is on track to get his tenth number one UK album with Blackstar. At the time of writing David has some 12 albums in the top 20 UK iTunes album chart, and a further six records in the top 40.
The legendary musician said he wanted to be remembered by his music
Despite his decision not to have a funeral, there are still a number of memorial services being arranged in honour of the Aladdin Sane singer, including a star-studded concert in New York's Carnegie Hall.
The concert was originally billed as a tribute to the China Girl hitmaker, with The Roots, Cyndi Lauper and The Mountain Goats among other artists scheduled to take part to sing David's songs.
Organisers, who have spent seven months planning, have decided to go ahead with the show but it will be staged as a memorial concert instead.
"This year's concert will certainly be remembered as a poignant celebration of his music by his friends, peers and fans," an announcement was made on the venue's official website. "We are all deeply saddened by this news. The timing of our public on-sale date is bizarre in its timing and the show is taking on many more emotions."