I know exactly what you mean about David Bowie. That man...

I loved bits and pieces of his work, and more admired others (you know, the "this one doesn't speak my language but I admire its mastery" feeling). But mostly my admiration was for just-him, the odd duck who never tried to make the world accept and love him, but somehow managed it anyway. I read a quote the other day to the effect that if David Bowie could make being David Bowie cool, you could make being you cool. I loved that. It summed up the feeling of kinship I had about him.