David Bowie will be remembered for pushing the boundaries of music and fashion. But he also blazed trails in finance.

The British musician, who died Sunday after a struggle with cancer, in 1997 raised $55 million by selling off the rights to his future earnings. The groundbreaking sale of so-called “Bowie Bonds” made Mr. Bowie the first musician to securitize the royalties from his back catalog, which, unlike many artists, he fully owned.

His timing was spot-on: The deal landed amid Wall Street’s burgeoning fascination with exotic products, but before Napster and its ilk crashed sales of recorded music.

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