Angie and David Bowie had been estranged for many years. "I realise now he was saying goodbye". She published a book, Backstage Passes: Life on the Wild Side with David Bowie, about their life together, in 1993.
The last known image taken of David was posted on the singer's Instagram account on Friday, just two days before he died - to mark his 69th birthday and the release of his 28th, and final, album. It features the haunting track Lazarus, which poignantly opens with the lyrics: "Look up here, I'm in Heaven".
"In this era of too much information, when over-sharing is virtually mandatory, Bowie's decision to suffer away from the limelight, among those closest to him, appears nearly as a Herculean achievement", wrote commentator Brendan O'Neill. Without this visionary and his friend Iggy Pop where would Blondie be today? I never met such a brilliant person.
Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, said Bowie provided the soundtrack to the lives of his generation.
He said: "I grew up listening to and watching the pop genius David Bowie".
The singer had barely performed in public since falling ill in June 2004.
At the musical's NY premiere on December 7, few knew that anything was amiss. The former model, 66, chose to stay on the show and is allowing viewers to watch her grieving process.
The Ritzy cinema in Brixton in the south of London where Bowie was born felt there was only one announcement worth making, bringing the legend back home.
In 1969 he made his first appearance in the charts with Space Oddity.
A further five Bowie albums are in the Top 40, with a 1997 "Best Of...' at 13, 2002 release "Best Of Bowie" at 27, "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" is at 19 and "Hunky Dory" and 'Aladdin Sane" are at 20 and 32 respectively.
"Labyrinth", a 1986 fantasy flick starring Bowie as the Goblin King, was temporarily sold out on Amazon as of Monday afternoon. Perhaps his most memorable role came in the 1976 movie, The Man Who Fell To Earth.
On Sunday, Bowie's wife Iman Abdulmajid tweeted: "The struggle is real, but so is God".
Angie and Bowie were married from 1970 to 1980.
