I remember listening to Bowie many years ago, on a radio station that played Bowie every day, mostly from the Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars. I did not ever focused on Bowie, not until recently when he was all over the news for a bad reason, unfortunately. I grew to admire not only the musician, but a man of many talents with a glorious personality.
Btw, when I think of Bowie, what comes to mind immediately is a BBC tv series, about a detective that without explanation travels back in time and appear in the 70's, having the same job and duties! The title music was by Bowie, and the series was named Life on Mars.
And I agree, it is much better to see how an artist influences others, than watching others trying to be that artist.
I think people like him for being different and endlessly creative. That TV show was quirky, like Bowie