WASHINGTON — David Bowie’s shark-like ability to keep moving forward defined him to the very end.

Even his exit was an artistic statement. He released a striking video last week for his new song, “Lazarus,” that depicts him in an institutional bed, his eyes covered in gauze.

“Look up here, I’m in heaven,” he sings in the song’s opening. A thin Bowie also appears dressed in a bodysuit that seems left over from the “Ziggy Stardust” years, retreating to a closet at the song’s end. The song, like the elegaic “Where Are We Now?” from 2013, has him confronting issues of mortality in haunting fashion.

Bowie died Sunday night at age 69 after an 18 month battle with cancer, news that stunned his millions of admirers and inspired worldwide grieving. Though he rarely made public appearances in recent years, Bowie had just released a new album, “Blackstar” on Friday, his birthday. Few suspected he had only days to live.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.