I do not think that appealing to weirdos should earn you reverence. Do we revere Larry Flint?
As someone noted earlier, he legitimizes aberrant behavior, as does mainstream culture in general. That is not necessarily a good thing.
Different kind of weirdo. Bowie’s weirdo group was the nerds, dorks, dweebs, and social misfits that made the computer you’re using even happen.
He did not legitimize aberrant behavior. That person was wrong, and repeating dumb doesn’t make it smart. he legitimized not fitting in. Vastly different.