David Bowie - Biography - IMDb David Bowie Biography Showing all 147 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (10) | Trivia (62) | Personal Quotes (67) Overview (5) 5' 10" (1.78 m) Mini Bio (1) David Bowie is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of pop music. Born David Jones, he changed his name to Bowie in the 1960s, to avoid confusion with the then well-known Davy Jones (lead singer of The Monkees ). The 1960s were not a happy period for Bowie, who remained a struggling artist, awaiting his breakthrough. He dabbled in many different styles of music (without commercial success), and other art forms such as acting, mime, painting, and playwriting. He finally achieved his commercial breakthrough in 1969 with the song "Space Oddity," which was released at the time of the moon landing.

Despite the fact that the literal meaning of the lyrics relates to an astronaut who is lost in space, this song was used by the BBC in their coverage of the moon landing, and this helped it become such a success. The album, which followed "Space Oddity," and the two, which followed (one of which included the song "The Man Who Sold The World," covered by Lulu and Nirvana ) failed to produce another hit single, and Bowie's career appeared to be in decline. However, he made the first of many successful "comebacks" in 1972 with "Ziggy Stardust," a concept album about a space-age rock star. This album was followed by others in a similar vein, rock albums built around a central character and concerned with futuristic themes of Armageddon, gender dysfunction/confusion, as well as more contemporary themes such as the destructiveness of success and fame, and the dangers inherent in star worship. In the mid 1970s, Bowie was a heavy cocaine abuser and sometime heroin user. In 1975, he changed tack. Musically, he released "Young Americans," a soul (or plastic soul as he later referred to it) album.

This produced his first number one hit in the US, "Fame." He also appeared in his first major film, The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). With his different-colored eyes and skeletal frame, he certainly looked the part of an alien. The following year, he released "Station to Station," containing some of the material he had written for the soundtrack to this film (which was not used). As his drug problem heightened, his behavior became more erratic. Reports of his insanity started to appear, and he continued to waste away physically. He fled back to Europe, finally settling in Berlin, where he changed musical direction again and recorded three of the most influential albums of all time, an electronic trilogy with Brian Eno "Low, Heroes and Lodger." Towards the end of the 1970s, he finally kicked his drug habit, and recorded the album many of his fans consider his best, the Japanese-influenced "Scary Monsters." Around this time, he played the Elephant Man on Broadway, to considerable acclaim. The next few years saw something of a drop-off in his musical output as his acting career flourished, culminating in his acclaimed performance in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983).

In 1983, he recorded "Let's Dance," an album which proved an unexpected massive commercial success, and produced his second number 1 hit single in the US. The tour which followed, "Serious Moonlight," was his most successful ever. Faced with this success on a massive scale, Bowie apparently attempted to "repeat the formula" in the next two albums, with less success (and to critical scorn). Finally, in the late 1980s, he turned his back on commercial success and his solo career, forming the hard rock band, Tin Machine, who had a deliberate limited appeal. By now, his acting career was in decline. After the comparative failure of Labyrinth (1986), the movie industry appears to have decided that Bowie was not a sufficient name to be a lead actor in a major movie, and since that date, most of his roles have been cameos or glorified cameos. He himself also seems to have lost interest in movie acting. Tin Machine toured extensively and released two albums, with little critical or commercial success.

In 1992, Bowie again changed direction and re-launched his solo career with "Black Tie White Noise," a "wedding" album inspired by his recent marriage to Iman . He released three albums to considerable critical acclaim and reasonable commercial success. In 1995, he renewed his working relationship with Brian Eno to record "Outside." After an initial hostile reaction from the critics, this album has now taken its place with his classic albums. In 2003, Bowie released an album entitled 'Reality.' The Reality Tour began in November 2003 and, after great commercial success, was extended into July 2004. In June 2004, Bowie suffered a heart attack and the tour did not finish it's scheduled run. After recovering, Bowie did not release any new music, but did a little acting. In 2006, he played Tesla in The Prestige (2006) and had a small cameo in the series Extras (2005). In 2007, he did a cartoon voice in SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) playing Lord Royal Highness.

He has not appeared in anything since 2008; however, after a ten year hiatus from recording, he released a new album called 'The Next Day.' Bowie has influenced the course of popular music several times and influenced several generations of musicians. His promotional videos in the 1970s and 80s are regarded as ground-breaking, and as a live concert act, he is regarded as the most theatrical of them all. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Dara O'Kearney <daraok@iol.ie> Spouse (2) His distinctive and idiosyncratic singing style, wide ranging vocals and rich baritone His one permanently dilated pupil that gives him the appearance of different colored eyes Known for having a different theme on almost every album Lyrics with science fiction or fantasy themes His highly theatrical style and performances His musical eclecticism and experimentation Wearing sharp suits in the 1980s The intellectual depth of his work His marriage of music and visual art Trivia (62) His eyes were both blue.

However, one pupil was permanently dilated due to an incident when he was punched by a school friend, George Underwood , when he was 15, and as a result, one eye looked darker than the other. Underwood became a successful artist and remained a friend of Bowie's for the rest of his life, including designing artwork for him. In 1968 while he was still a struggling artist, Bowie wrote some English lyrics to a French song titled "Comme d'Habitude" ("As Usual"). His version, "Even a Fool Learns to Love", never did get recorded, but when the French melody caught the attention of Paul Anka , he reworked the lyrics and the song became "My Way". Of course, when Frank Sinatra recorded "My Way" his way, it turned to gold. Bowie had one son in 1971 with his then-wife Angie Bowie , originally named Zowie - who later changed it to Joe and who is now known as Duncan Jones . Duncan was Bowie's best man at his 1992 wedding to Iman . He studied at a film school in London and became a successful writer and director.

(August 15, 2000) His daughter, with Iman , Alexandria Zahra Jones, was born. Bowie was the first sexually ambiguous British pop star, declaring himself "gay" in 1972 (before contemporaries such as Freddie Mercury and Elton John made declarations that they were bisexual) and only five years since male homosexuality had been decriminalized in the UK. In a magazine interview, he stated that he met his first wife when they were in a relationship with the same man. Whether this was true or a joke has been the subject of much speculation. His appearance on Top of the Pops (1964) in 1972 with "Starman", when he put his arm around guitarist Mick Ronson , has been cited by many as a key moment for gay liberation in Britain and described by journalist Caitlin Moran as "the gay moon landing". In a 1983 interview with Rolling Stone, he stated that his bisexuality was really a sham. He claimed he made the story up to create more mystery about himself and defined himself as a "closet heterosexual".

In later years he would neither confirm nor deny he had engaged in gay relationships, merely admitting (in a 2002 interview by Jonathan Ross ) that he'd been "incredibly promiscuous". Dancer Lindsay Kemp has often claimed in interviews that he slept with Bowie. He was born and raised in London, England, of English parents. His father was originally from Yorkshire. His mother was from Kent and was of Irish ancestry. The Jones side of the family had roots in West Wales. In his composition "Slip Away", on his album "Heathen", he makes cryptic references to The Uncle Floyd Show (1974), a program popular in the late 1970s and 1980s in the New York City area. Broadcast on a local television station, it featured two puppets, "Oogie" and "Bones Boy", mentioned in the song, as well as the host, "Uncle" Floyd Vivino . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 (by Madonna ) and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

He contributed the song "Everyone Says Hi" to the all-star War Child album "Hope", which assisted child victims of the war in Iraq, in 2003. His 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" came 8th in Classic Rock Magazine's list of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time. [March 2003] He performed with (on separate occasions) Queen , Mick Jagger , Iggy Pop , Al B. Sure! , Tina Turner , Annie Lennox , 'Nine Inch Nails' and Bing Crosby . Something that he and actor John Hurt had in common is that both men played the Elephant Man. Bowie was consistently listed in later life as one of the wealthiest British music stars in the world. In November 1997, Business Age magazine reported his net worth as being over $900 million, surpassing even that of fellow British musician Paul McCartney , making him Britain's richest rock star. In 1999, Reuters placed his net worth at roughly $917 million.

In 2003, the Sunday Express claimed his net worth was still in the $900 million (£510 million) range but that this placed him second to Paul McCartney . However, in 2005, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his fortunes at roughly $185 million (£100 million). Following his death in 2016, his estate, which was mainly bequeathed to his widow and two children, was valued at $100 million (£70 million). His song "Five Years" was covered by former Marillion singer Fish on his 1993 album "Songs from the Mirror", a collection of songs which reflected his musical influences. His song "Life on Mars" was covered by Marillion frontman Steve Hogarth and the H Band on the album "Live Spirit: Live Body" (released 2002). Bowie cited Little Richard as his first musical influence, hearing him at the age of eight, and, according to producer Nile Rodgers , he was a key influence on his most commercially successful album, "Let's Dance". Bowie drew from a wide range of musical influences from his earliest days.

In 2015, British music publication Mojo released a compilation album of 15 tracks by his earliest influences. It comprised of tracks by Little Richard , Chuck Berry , Bobby Bland , Ronnie Ross , Frank Sinatra , Jacques Brel , Lotte Lenya , Nina Simone , Nat 'King' Cole , Billy Fury , Anthony Newley , The Flares, Vince Taylor , The Yardbirds and The Pretty Things . He declined the royal honor of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000, and turned down a knighthood in 2003. He took the pseudonym "David Bowie" to keep himself from being confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees . (June 25, 2004) He had an emergency angioplasty in Germany while on his current tour. The remainder of the tour was obviously cancelled. Bowie was a big fan of The Velvet Underground . He later recorded with and produced the band's songwriter Lou Reed . He also frequently collaborated as a songwriter with Iggy Pop from The Stooges . Bowie, Reed and Pop are all considered to be among the most influential rock musicians of all time.

Bowie included a version of "China Girl", which he had written with Pop in the 1970s (and had been recorded by Pop on his 1977 album "The Idiot"), on his 1983 album "Let's Dance" in order to help Pop financially. The song became one of Bowie's biggest international hits. Following Bowie's death, Pop described Bowie's friendship as "the light of my life". He played 14 different instruments. The first instrument he learned was the saxophone at the age of 12 and performed it on several of his own songs. Although a talented rhythm guitarist (which included playing the famous riff of "Rebel Rebel"), Bowie found himself lacking in ability as a lead guitarist. He was voted the 39th Greatest Artist in Rock 'n' Roll by Rolling Stone. He turned down the role of Captain Hook in Hook (1991), which went to Dustin Hoffman . He underwent triple heart bypass surgery following a heart attack. He also gave up his smoking habit of 50 cigarettes a day in the same year. [July 2004] He was loosely the basis for the film Velvet Goldmine (1998).

He sang a duet with Kasper Eistrup on the album "No Balance Palace" by the Danish rock band Kashmir . [2005] He was credited as himself in Zoolander (2001). He was the judge of the fashion "walk-off" between Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller . He was the first major recording artist to release a song only on the Internet. He is mentioned in "Life Is a Rock But the Radio Rolled Me", a 1974 international hit single by Reunion and "Monkey Business", a 1991 international hit single by heavy metal band Skid Row (the lyric "thinkin' Bowie's just a knife"). He was the son of Margaret Mary Jones . He was the winner of the British Phonographic Industry Award for British Male Solo Artist in 1984 following the success of his multi-million selling album "Let's Dance". He was also the winner of the 1996 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution. In 2014, Bowie became the oldest person to date to win the British Male Solo Artist award following the success of his comeback album "The Next Day". He was more than 40 years older than the other nominees.

He played Serbian/American scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006). Bowie revealed that he turned down a lucrative opportunity to record a theme song for a James Bond film because he didn't like the franchise. He was also originally approached to play Max Zorin in A View to a Kill (1985), but turned it down citing his lack of enthusiasm for the script. The role went to Christopher Walken instead. He was also considered for the role of The Joker in Batman (1989) and Max Shreck in Batman Returns (1992), but turned down the latter to appear in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). He was ranked #12 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists and #7 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll. Bowie considered "Tonight" (released in 1984) and "Never Let Me Down" (released in 1987) to be his weakest albums. Both albums were critically panned and led to Bowie forming the group Tin Machine in an attempt to shed his mainstream audience and reinvent himself as a creative force.

Despite his low opinion of these albums, Bowie did later choose a song from each album ("Loving the Alien" from "Tonight" and "Time Will Crawl" from "Never Let Me Down") as among his fifteen favourite tracks from his own career for the 2008 compilation album "iSelect". He resided in New York City from 1992 until his death. He appeared in Bing Crosby 's last television show before his death, a Christmas special taped in London that aired after Crosby's death in December 1977. It is memorable for Crosby and Bowie singing a duet of "The Little Drummer Boy": Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas (1977). He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 12, 1997. Early in his career, Bowie was once snubbed by The Beatles ' Apple record label. He had a fear of flying (Aviophobia). He asked Stevie Ray Vaughan to play guitar on the album "Let's Dance" after seeing Double Trouble perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

He was a big influence on Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks of the progressive rock band Genesis , who both followed his career from the early days in the 1960s. Banks became a fan from buying a copy of his 1966 single "Can't Help Thinking About Me", which he loved for its unusual chords. His song "Heroes" was recorded by Gabriel on his album "Scratch My Back", released in 2010. It was a very different arrangement from Bowie's original, with Gabriel's voice accompanied only by orchestral instruments. In 1969, he starred in a black-and-white Lyons Maid ice cream commercial directed by Ridley Scott . (The slogan was: "The pop ice cream. Nine pence.") In 1983, Bowie starred in The Hunger (1983) directed by Ridley's brother Tony Scott . He went through a heroin addiction, which resulted in him blacking out and unable to account for his own behavior for much of the mid-1970s. His song "Ashes to Ashes" documents his struggles with drugs.

Bowie was one of the first artists to pay tribute to Freddie Mercury following his death in 1991 and performed at The Freddie Mercury Tribute: Concert for AIDS Awareness (1992). Bowie was also a friend of his glam rock contemporary Marc Bolan , whose funeral he attended in 1977. Elton John revealed in an interview with The Evening Standard following Bowie's death that he had been close to Bowie during their early careers, they had spent time together at music venues and gay clubs, but they had also fallen out back in the 1970s due to comments Bowie made about John to Rolling Stone magazine. He said they were never close again after that. Nevertheless, John performed a version of "Space Oddity" in a concert as a tribute to Bowie following his death. He was awarded Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by French culture minister Catherine Trautmann in 1999. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in June 2013. He was the main inspiration for Tilda Swinton 's character in A Bigger Splash (2015), rock musician Marianne Lane.

Swinton appeared next to Bowie on the music video for his song "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)". Bob Geldof envisaged him as singing the first line on "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid . However, Bowie was unavailable for the recording, so Paul Young sang it instead as it was felt he had the closest voice to Bowie of all the performers participating. Bowie did get to eventually sing the opening of the song at the Live Aid (1985) finale at Wembley Stadium. He is mentioned in the lyrics of the theme tune for Only Fools and Horses.... (1981), one of the UK's most popular sitcoms of all time. He met wife-to-be Iman in October 1990 through mutual hairstylist Teddy Antolin after Bowie had earlier 'discovered' the supermodel in the pages of a fashion magazine aboard a plane between tour gigs. David proposed to Iman under the Pont Neuf bridge on the River Seine while serenading her with the love song "April in Paris". Known for his sense of style, Bowie has been described by director Geoff Wonfor as "one of only three people in music who really looked good in a suit.

The others are Bryan Ferry and Robert Palmer ". He tried to live as normal and inconspicuous a life as possible in New York in later years. He was also known to be a dedicated family man. In 2002 he said he could never come back to live in the UK because of the media intrusion which had developed there. When Bowie was extremely young, perhaps between the ages of 2 to 4 years old, his parents enrolled him in what is called 'infant's school' in Britain. In the US it would be considered 'Nursery School' or 'Preschool'. His teachers said that during the music and dance parts of the days, Bowie astonished them with his grace and poise of movement. They said they had never witnessed a child so young able to move like that. He died two days after his 69th birthday. Bowie often said he was ''a collector'', and people close to him said he rarely threw anything away. He made remarks in his twenties that sounded megalomaniacal at the time, saying that he envisioned collecting everything he did in his life and organizing it all meticulously in archives. He wasn't kidding: he did make good on his intent.

He saved all his handwritten lyrics, all his stage outfits once he retired them, paintings and art pieces he made, and everything else he valued that he created during his life's work, and had them stored under meticulous security in Switzerland, organized and archived as he said he would. The BBC television dramas Life on Mars (2006) and Ashes to Ashes (2008) were named after two of his most famous songs. Shortly after his passing, fans from Berlin, Germany, started a petition to change the name of the "Hauptstraße" in Berlin Schöneberg into "David-Bowie-Straße" (David Bowie Street). The reason behind it is that Bowie lived there from 1976 until 1978, a time that is considered for not only saving his career, but also for saving his life. During that time, he produced three of his most well-known albums, "Low", "Heroes" and "Lodger". His video for "Ashes to Ashes" was 27th in Channel 4's countdown of The 100 Greatest Pop Videos (2005).

The video featured Bowie fan Steve Strange , whose band Visage later covered Bowie's song "Loving the Alien" on their 2015 album "Demons to Diamonds". The influential British singer-songwriter Paul Weller named one of his children "Bowie" after him. Weller has cited "Low" as "one of my favourite records". Bowie's first four albums, "David Bowie" (1967), "David Bowie" (1969) (also subsequently titled "Space Oddity"), "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970) and "Hunky Dory" (1971), all failed to chart in the UK on their initial release. He first entered the album chart with "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" in 1972. In 1971, Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits fame) had his only solo UK chart hit with a cover of Bowie's song "Oh! You Pretty Things", which reached number 12. In 1974, Lulu had a number three single in the UK with her cover of his song "The Man Who Sold the World".

Neither song was a hit for Bowie in the 1970s. Music producer Nile Rodgers , the BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz and Professor Michael Spitzer, the Head of the Department of Music at the University of Liverpool, have all likened Bowie as a musician to the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso , who had a far-reaching and enduring impact on the art world in the 20th century similar to the impact Bowie had on popular music during his lifetime, which has earned Bowie the alliterative nickname "The Picasso of Pop". Gompertz said that Bowie was, like Picasso, "an innovative, visionary, restless artist who synthesised complex avant-garde concepts into beautifully coherent works that touched the hearts and minds of millions". Personal Quotes (67) [on whether he thinks he is a good actor] I took you in, didn't I? I rest my make-up case. [during an interview about his new album in 1999] I have nothing to say about the new album. Can I go now? Talking about art is like dancing about architecture. I rate Morrissey as one of the best lyricists in Britain. For me, he's up there with Bryan Ferry .

[on receiving an honorary degree from Boston's Berklee College of Music] Any list of advice I have to offer to a musician always ends with, "If it itches, go and see a doctor.". I know about Kylie [ Kylie Minogue ] and Robbie [ Robbie Williams ] and Pop Idol (2001) and stuff like that. You can't get away from that when you hit the [British] shore, so I know all about the cruise ship entertainment aspect of British pop. I'm an instant star; just add water. [from 1992] It would be my guess that Madonna is not a very happy woman. From my own experience, having gone through persona changes like that, that kind of clawing need to be the center of attention is not a pleasant place to be. I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human. I'm looking for backing for an unauthorized autobiography that I am writing. Hopefully, this will sell in such huge numbers that I will be able to sue myself for an extraordinary amount of money and finance the film version in which I will play everybody. [in 1976 interview with Playboy] It's true - I am a bisexual.

But I can't deny that I've used that fact very well. I suppose it's the best thing that ever happened to me. Fun, too. You would think that a rock star being married to a supermodel would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is. [on his biggest worldwide hit song, "Let's Dance"] I don't know how many times someone has come up to me and said, "hey, let's dance!" I hate dancing. God, it's stupid. I reinvented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman. [on being 50] Fab. But, you know, I don't feel fifty. I feel not a day over forty-nine. It's incredible. I'm bouncy, I feel bouncy. I once asked [ John Lennon ] what he thought of what I do. He said, "it's great, but its just rock and roll with lipstick on". I gave up smoking six months before I had the heart attack - so that was worth it, wasn't it! I started to give up when my daughter was born because I wouldn't smoke in the house with her there so I had to go outside.

It's bloody cold in winter in New York, so I just quit. [on Syd Barrett ] The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the '60s will forever be etched in my mind. He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. Also, along with Anthony Newley , he was the first guy I'd heard to sing pop or rock with a British accent. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed. [on his pop sound during the 1980s] There was a period when I was performing in front of these huge stadium crowds at that time and I'm thinking: "What are these people doing here? Why have they come to see me? They should be seeing Phil Collins ." They were definitely Phil Collins type audiences, you know? And then, that came back at me and I thought: "What am I doing here? I should be playing to people who don't look like they've come to see Phil Collins ." That's what I'd been used to up until that point. I don't know the guy.

There's a certain kind of mainstream field that I'm not comfortable in. I'm just not comfortable in it. [from 1983] I get offered so many bad movies. And they're all raging queens or transvestites or Martians. [in 2002] I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners or be a representative of any group of people. I knew what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer, and I felt that bisexuality became my headline over here for so long. America is a very puritanical place, and I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do. [on Elvis Presley ] I saw a cousin of mine when I was young. She was dancing to "Hound Dog" and I had never seen her get up and be moved so much by anything. It really impressed me, the power of the music. I started getting records immediately after that. [ Sigmund Freud ] would have a heyday with me. The whole animal of rock keeps changing itself so fast and so furiously that you just can't plan ahead. Rock has always been the devil's music.

The only thing I ever got out of fame was a better table in a restaurant. And for that I gave up being able to relate to people. I think Mick Jagger would be astounded and amazed if he realized to many people he is not a sex symbol, but a mother image. I like crazy art and, most of the time, out-there music. Rather than having a hit song these days, I like the idea that I'm in there changing the plan of what society and culture look like, sound like. I did change things; I knew I would. It feels great, and very rewarding. "Hunky Dory" gave me a fabulous groundswell. I guess it provided me, for the first time in my life, with an actual audience - I mean, people actually coming up to me and saying,"'Good album, good songs.". That hadn't happened to me before. It was like, "Ah, I'm getting it, I'm finding my feet. I'm starting to communicate what I want to do. Now: what is it I want to do?" There was always a double whammy there.

[speaking in 2002] Of the 26 albums I've made I think there were two when I really wasn't involved and that was "Tonight" and "Never Let Me Down", the two follow-ups to "Let's Dance". That period was my Phil Collins years. [speaking in 2002] It seems to be traditional now that every album since "Black Tie White Noise" is the best album I've put out since "Scary Monsters". [on the song "Dance Magic" from Labyrinth (1986)] In a recording studio, a baby I'd picked from one of the backup singers . . . couldn't put two gurgles together. And it wouldn't work for me, it wouldn't go, I kicked it, I did everything to make it scream but it wouldn't, it really buttoned its lips so I ended up doing the gurgles, so I'm the baby on that track as well. I thought "What the hell? I've done "Laughing Gnome", I might as well go all the way with that.". I never thought in 20 years I'd come back to working with gnomes.

[on Freddie Mercury ] Of all the more theatrical rock performers, Freddie took it further than the rest. He took it over the edge. And of course, I always admired a man who wears tights. I only saw him in concert once and as they say, he was definitely a man who could hold an audience in the palm of his hand. [in 1972] Sometimes I don't feel as if I'm a person at all. I'm just a collection of other people's ideas. [in 1980] I have a lot of reservations about what I've done, inasmuch as I don't feel much of it has any import at all. [in 1975] I like fast drugs. I hate anything that slows me down. [on declining the royal honor of Commander of the British Empire in 2000, and turning down a knighthood in 2003] I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don't know what it's for. It's not what I spent my life working for. [in 1973] Offstage, I'm a robot. Onstage, I achieve emotion.

It's probably why I prefer dressing up as Ziggy to being David. The lowest point in my life was in 1975, when I was 28, living in Los Angeles. I really did think that my thoughts about not making 30 would come true. Drugs had taken my life away from me. I felt as though I would probably die and it was going to be all over. My assistant, Coco, got me out of it. Thanks to her, I got myself out of America to Berlin. Best advice, which I wish I had known at 18? Don't do drugs. [on Annie Lennox ] Most exquisite. Absolutely fabulous. David Bowie | Biography, News, Photos and Videos | Contactmusic.com News Pictures Video Film Music Press Comments Quotes RSS Biography David Bowie (Born David Jones, 8.1.1947) was an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1970s and remained active in the music business for five decades. He passed away on the 10th January 2016. Childhood: David Bowie (then Jones) was born in Brixton, London. His mother was Irish and his father was a Yorkshireman.

The family moved to Bromley, in Kent, when David was six. As a child, David was fascinated by the records his father brought home, of Fats Domino, and Little Richard, among others. His half-brother Terry also introduced him to the likes of Charles Mingus and John Coltrane. Music: In 1962, Bowie formed his first band, the Konrads. He later went on to perform under the name Davie Jones, or Davy Jones. To avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees, he chose the stage name David Bowie. His first, eponymous album was released by Deram Records, an offshoot of Decca. However, it wasn't until the 1969 release of 'Space Oddity', which coincided with the first moon landing, that Bowie hit the big time. In 2000 he made his second appearance at Glastonbury festival after, 30 years since his last performance He accepted a Grammy in February 2006 for a lifetime achievement award.

In 2014 he won a Brit award for Best British Male, this made him the oldest recipient of a Brit award and it was accepted by Kate Moss on his behalf. Key Albums: Originally released in 1969, the Space Oddity album became one of Bowie's best-known and most popular albums. It's follow-up, The Man Who Sold the World (1970) saw Bowie, with the help of Mick Ronson, venture into rockier territory. Hunky Dory spawned singles such as 'Oh You Pretty Things' as well as homages to Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol. In 1972, Bowie adopted the androgynous persona of Ziggy Stardust and released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. Many tracks from the album have since been hailed as classics, including 'Suffragette City', and 'Moonage Daydream'. The album Aladdin Sane is as notorious for its songs (including 'Jean Genie' and 'Let's Spend The Night Together') as it is for its iconic cover, depicting Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, with a lightning bolt painted diagonally across his face.

The album also featured Bowie's cover of The Rolling Stones' track 'Let's Spend The Night Together'. In 1974, David Bowie was the UK's best-selling act, with his album Diamond Dogs going to number one in the album charts and its single 'Rebel Rebel' reaching number five. Bowie's first US number one, 'Fame', was co-written by John Lennon (who sang back-up vocals) and Carlos Alomar. The track was taken from his album Young Americans (1975), which provided his own take on the Philadelphia soul sound. The album also features vocals from Luther Vandross. Another of Bowie's many personae came to light with his album Station to Station (1976). The 'Thin White Duke' was considered to be an amplification of the character that he played in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, Thomas Jerome Newton. In the late 1970s, Bowie moved to Berlin in an attempt to rekindle his waning success. During this time, he worked extensively with Iggy Pop and released three of his own albums, known as the 'Berlin Trilogy'.

Low, Heroes and Lodger were inspired by Krautrock bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu! Bowie's 1980 album, Scary Monsters featured guitar work from a number of high profile musicians such as Pete Townsend , Tom Verlaine and Robert Fripp. In the late 1990's, David Bowie experienced a rejuvenated music career, with the release of Earthling, his well-respected foray into the world of drum 'n' bass. This success continued in the early 21st century, with the dark electronica of Heathen. In 2013 he released another album The Next Day which was his first studio album in over a decade. This album debuted at no.1 on the UK album chart and at the time was the fastest selling album of 2013. In 2016 Blackstar his twenty- fifth and final studio album which was released two days before his death, producer Tony Visconti revealed that this album was a ‘parting gift’ for his fans as he knew that he was dying. Tin Machine: In 1989, Bowie formed the band Tin Machine with Reeves Gabrels, Tony Sales and Hunt Sales.

The debut album, Tin Machine, released in 1989, went to number three in the UK charts but Bowie became frustrated when his ideas were altered or turned down by the rest of the band. After the comparative failure of Tin Machine II and the live album Tin Machine: Oy Vey, Baby, David decommissioned the band, in favour of working on his own material. Film Career: David Bowie has appeared in a number of successful movies, including Labyrinth, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Absolute Beginners. Personal Life: In 1970, David Bowie married his first wife, Angela. They had a son, known as Zowie, but officially named Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones. Angie and David were divorced after eight years of marriage. David's second marriage was to the Somalian model, Iman Abdulmajid, in 1992. The pair have one child, daughter Alexandria Zahra Jones. Bowie has also admitted to drug use in his career but claimed that he stopped using after he got custody of his son, he also wishes that he had never took them at all as they took a hold of his life without him even knowing.

David died on the 10th January 2016 after battling with liver cancer for the past 12 months, he did not make his illness public and was said to have faced it with both courage and dignity. Biography by Contactmusic.com Biographies on David Bowie | Research papers on David Bowie Bith Date: January 8, 1947 Death Date: Place of Birth: London, England Nationality: English Gender: Male Occupations: singer, songwriter, actor English singer David Bowie (born 1947) has been called a cultural chameleon throughout his long and colorful career. From music and film to art and the Internet, Bowie has challenged the perceptions of fans and critics alike with his many malleable personas which seemed to mirror the cutting edge trends of the day. In 1996, Bowie became the first artist of his stature to release a single, "Telling Lies," exclusively via the Internet. Born January 8, 1947, and raised in Brixton, a poor section of London, Bowie claims to have mapped out his destiny at an early age.

The son of Hayward Jones, a publicist, and Margaret Mary (Burns) Jones, a movie theater usher, Bowie turned to music as the way to change his life. After having heard a single by Little Richard, the nine-year-old Bowie decided he wanted to be one of Little Richard's saxophone players. A short time later, he got his first saxophone and began working as a butcher's delivery boy in order to pay it off. Upon learning that jazz player Ronnie Ross lived in the neighborhood, Bowie persuaded Ross to give him some lessons. After ten or so lessons, Bowie quit going to see Ross because he felt that he was ready to become a rock star. Bowie immersed himself in music because of the lack of communication between his parents and himself. He told Hanif Kureishi of Interview that "I could never, ever talk to my father. I really loved him, but we couldn't talk about anything together. There was this really British thing that being even remotely emotional was absolutely verboten." Putting it down to the "classic case of British reserve," Bowie consoled himself by withdrawing to his room where he was alone with his books and music and thoughts.

While a teenager, Bowie plied his trade with numerous London area bands including the Kon-Rads, King Bees, Mannish Boys, and the Lower Third. During this time he flirted with a number of the musical styles and genres popular in Britain in the early- to mid-1960s, most notably folk and mod. Bowie also studied commercial art, worked briefly at an advertising agency, painted, and acted in some small stage roles. The worldwide success of the made-for-television American pop band The Monkees forced Bowie to change his name in the late 1960s. The Monkees' lead singer was named Davey Jones and Bowie did not want to be confused with him, so he adopted the surname Bowie. Bowie started his solo career in 1966 and released his first singles about the same time. The singles were mostly unmemorable and easily forgettable until 1969. In that year, Bowie released his first classic signature song "Space Oddity," which eventually peaked at number five on the British pop singles chart. Two years later, his album, The Man Who Sold the World, was released.

It has been claimed that the birth of the glam rock movement occurred when this album was released. Also that year, Bowie went on his first promotional tour of America and in the summer, his wife Angela Barnet gave birth to a son, Zowie, now known as Joey. The year 1972 was a rather eventful one for Bowie. He went on another promotional tour of America, although this time it was to cement relations with his new label RCA. Hunky Dory, was culled from tracks on the demo that got Bowie his new recording contract. It contained the singles "Life on Mars" and "Changes". The follow-up to Hunky Dory established Bowie as a star. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars gave Bowie not only the abbreviated title track but it also gave him his first and perhaps most beloved persona--Ziggy Stardust. On his chameleon-like character changes, Bowie told Kureishi of Interview that "I know now for a fact that so much of my ambition and drive came from wanting to escape from myself and from feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability and not feeling I was loved by anybody, particularly.

I would drive those feelings out by throwing myself not only into work, but eventually into characters." The tour to support the album was a rock spectacle full of theatrics and innovations. During this time, Bowie produced Lou Reed's Transformer album and Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes. He also discussed his bisexuality in an interview with the British music magazine Melody Maker. The resulting controversy lingered on for years. Later Bowie told Kurt Loder in Rolling Stone: "The biggest mistake I ever made ... was telling that ... writer that I was bisexual. Christ, I was so young then. I was experimenting." Aladdin Sane was released in the spring of 1973, while the world was still enchanted by Ziggy Stardust. In June of that year, Bowie gave up the Ziggy Stardust persona which started a trend that would continue throughout his career. The shock of this announcement was heightened by the fact that it was made on the last date of the Ziggy Stardust tour and not even members of Bowie's band had known about it ahead of time. Bowie then went to France and started to work on his next album Pin Ups, which was released in the fall of 1973.

It was in homage to the artists who had influenced him when he was starting out in the music industry. Six months later saw the release of Diamond Dogs, which was a reaction to the disco music that was slowly starting to inundate society. The success of Bowie's biggest American tour to date was chronicled on David Live, a recording of the Philadelphia concert. Bowie's fascination with America manifested itself on his 1975 release Young Americans. It gave Bowie his first American number one single, "Fame," which was a collaboration with John Lennon that barely made the album. Shortly after the release of the album, Bowie moved to Los Angles and began his film career with a role in the 1976 movie The Man Who Fell to Earth. Also that year, Bowie released Station to Station and RCA released his first greatest hits album Changesonebowie. Not long after this, Bowie moved to Berlin and began collaborations with avante garde experimentalists Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. According to Bowie's official web site, the vibe of the Berlin recording sessions with Fripp and Eno featured "surrealism and experimentation [as] the themes of the day.

The incorporation of cut and paste techniques into unique instrumentation birthed what are now heralded as luminary ambient soundscapes." Low, which was released in 1977, perplexed both RCA and Bowie's fans although the single "Sound & Vision" made it to number two on the British pop charts. During this time, Bowie also produced and collaborated on The Idiot by his friend Iggy Pop. Stage was released in the fall of 1978 and featured material culled from Bowie's Berlin period and material from his most recent American concert tour. He then relocated to Switzerland before setting off on expeditions to the continents of Asia and Africa. His next album Lodger was recorded in France and released in the spring of 1979. In September of the following year, Bowie made his debut on a Broadway stage in the role of the Elephant Man. He received numerous positive reviews for his performance. Around the same time as his Broadway debut, Bowie divorced his wife, Angela Barnet. Bowie chose to drop out of the music scene for awhile, in order to concentrate on acting. His first film role during his self-imposed sabbatical was in The Hunger, which was released in 1982.

This was followed very closely by Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. RCA released his second greatest hits package Changestwobowie in that year as well. With the 1983 signing of Bowie to EMI came the release of yet another of his signature albums Let's Dance. Jay Cocks of Time called it a "record of shrewd and unsentimental dynamism." It introduced the former Thin White Duke and Ziggy Stardust to a whole new generation of fans through videos on MTV. Let's Dance included the hit singles "Let's Dance," "Modern Love," and "China Girl," which was a collaboration between Bowie and Pop from their time spent in Berlin. His next album, Tonite, was released in 1984. Three years later saw the release of Never Let Me Down. In 1988, Bowie announced the formation of his new band Tin Machine. This was notable for two reasons. It was the first time Bowie would be part of a group as opposed to a solo singer with a backing band. Also, as Bowie was quick to point out, this was to be a collaborative effort, not a Bowie side project.

Virgin released Tin Machine's self titled debut album in 1989. Tin Machine signed to Victory and released Tin Machine II in 1991. The following year, the live album Oy Vey Baby was released. In 1992, Tin Machine was put on indefinite hold as Bowie decided to revive his solo career. Bowie toured the world in support of the Rykodisc box set Sound + Vision. This tour served as the long awaited and much anticipated greatest hits tour. On April 24, 1992, not far from his home in Switzerland, Bowie wed his second wife, the Somalian model, Iman. The following year brought the Virgin release Black Tie White Noise, which was informally called the wedding album in honor of his nuptials from the previous year. It marked the first solo Bowie record since 1987. Two years later, Bowie was once again collaborating with Eno, this time on Outside. In 1995, Bowie toured the United States with the group Nine Inch Nails, and featured his songs from Outside.

In 1996, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, starred in the film Basquiat, and released the Internet-only single "Telling Lies." One of the challenges Bowie faced in 1997 was the marketing and selling of the "Bowie Bonds." The sale of the bonds enabled him to obtain royalty money up front as opposed to waiting for it. The bonds were backed by the future royalties from his albums which were released prior to 1990. He also released Earthling in 1997. On August 15, 2000, Iman gave birth to their daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones. Bowie has developed a solid reputation in the art world as an artist and writer. According to the Virgin Records website, during 1996 and 1997 Bowie had art exhibitions in Switzerland, Italy, and England. He also sold art exclusively through his "Bowieart" website, and his interview with the late pop artist Roy Lichtenstein was published in the January 1998 issue of Interview. In May of 1997, Bowie and three colleagues founded 21 Publishing in Great Britain.

According to the "Bowieart" website, "21 aims to address the cultural issues of the 21st century and will create a platform for new words, new images and new ideas." In the third millennium he continued also with his ongoing production and collaboration efforts, appearing on Viva Nueva, an album by the Rustic Overtones, which was produced by Bowie colleague Tony Visconti and released on Tommy Boy Records in June of 2001. Likewise, he released his own London Boy album through Polygram that year. Nicholas Roeg, who directed Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, summed up the Bowie mystique to Cocks of Time as "David's a real living Renaissance figure. That's what makes him spectacular. He goes away and re-emerges bigger than before. He doesn't have a fashion, he's just constantly expanding. It's the world that has to stop occasionally and say 'My God, he's still going on.'" Further Reading Buckley, David, David Bowie, Omnibus, 1996. Thompson, Dave, and Dave Thomson, David Bowie: Moonage Daydream, Plexus Pub, 1994.

Tremlett, George, David Bowie: Living on the Brink, Carroll & Graf, 1997. Amusement Business, October 30, 1995, p. 8. Billboard, August 2, 1997, p. 6. CFO, April 1997, p. 20. Entertainment Weekly, April 4, 1997, p. 26; November 14, 1997, p. 89. Fortune, April 28, 1997, p. 50. Interview, May 1993, pp. 92-97; February 1997, pp. 46-50. People, May 18, 1992, p. 72. Rolling Stone, May 12, 1983; October 25, 1984; April 23, 1987. Time, July 18, 1983, pp. 54-60; February 17, 1997, p. 70.

"Bowieart," (March 9, 1998). "David Bowie," Celeb site, (March 9, 1998). "David Bowie," (February 13, 1998). "David Bowie," (February 13, 1998). David Bowie dead at 69: Music legend loses cancer battle - NY Daily News David Bowie dead at 69: Music legend loses 18-month battle with cancer David Bowie dead at 69: Music legend loses cancer battle NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Tuesday, January 12, 2016, 8:18 AM Sadness and tears flowed Monday as fans around the globe mourned the loss of rock icon David Bowie, who died of liver cancer Sunday two days after his 69th birthday. His latest album, “Blackstar,” was released Friday — two days before he passed — as a “parting gift” to fans. David Bowie died at age 69 following a battle with cancer, according to his family.

(The WB/Frank Ockenfels II/TLP) “While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.” His son from an earlier marriage with Angela Bowie tweeted his grief. “Very sorry and sad to say it’s true,” the film director Duncan Jones said. The death shocked Bowie’s devoted fans — and even some of his closest friends. DAVID BOWIE'S FINAL ALBUM 'BLACKSTAR' IS 'PARTING GIFT' His frequent collaborator and friend for over 40 years, the musician Brian Eno, said the death “came as a complete surprise, as did nearly everything else about him.” Ivo Van Hove, a Belgian theater director who worked with Bowie on the New York Theater Workshop production of “Lazarus,” told a Dutch radio station Bowie had liver cancer. “I saw a man fighting. He fought like a lion and kept working through it all. I had incredible respect for that,” Van Hove told NPO Radio 4. Remembering the life and career of David Bowie Johan Renck, who directed Bowie in the stunning new “Lazarus” video, only knew the singer was sick.

“We never directly touched upon it apart from when you made morbid jokes,” he wrote in an Instagram tribute to Bowie. “It obviously colored our talks on work. . . . I embraced it all as a note on mortality, a nod on aftermath a comment on the concept of legacy.” Model Iman, Bowie’s wife of 24 years, did not release a comment on his death. Instead, a series of tweets she sent prior to the rock legend’s death hinted she knew the end was near. “Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory,” Iman, 60, wrote Saturday. The couple has a daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones, 15. Fans paid their respects at a growing vigil outside David Bowie's SoHo apartment on Monday night, leaving behind flowers, candles and copies of his vinyl records. (L.E. Miller / NY Daily News) Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger — whose duet of “Dancing in the Streets” with Bowie hit No. 2 in 1985 — also hailed Bowie. “David was always an inspiration to me and a true original. He was wonderfully shameless in his work,” Jagger said.

The death of the singer, film and fashion legend follows rumors of poor health dating back to 2004, when he collapsed backstage at a music festival in Germany. After the scare he underwent surgery for a clogged artery. Fans and critics reexamined Bowie’s 25th studio album, “Blackstar” for clues about his shocking death. Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for a while. Love to all. pic.twitter.com/Kh2fq3tf9m — Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 11, 2016 “Something happened on the day he died/Spirit rose a meter and stepped aside,” reads lyrics from the album’s title track. Bowie’s longtime producer, Tony Visconti, said mortality had been on the star’s mind. “He made ‘Blackstar’ for us — his parting gift,” Visconti said. “I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it.” The album was embraced by fans who considered it Bowie’s final rebirth.

“I’m devastated,” said Alexandrea Nieto, 31, who joined other fans to mourn the rock icon outside of his SoHo apartment building. “To me David Bowie was not only an artist. He was an icon.” Bowie (seen in 1973) changed his style constantly, moving from the glam rock god of 1972's "Ziggy Stardust" ... (Michael Ochs Archives) ... to the effortless cool of 1977's "Heroes." Bowie changed his style constantly, moving from the glam rock god of 1972's "Ziggy Stardust" (left) to the effortless cool of 1977's "Heroes" (right). Born as David Jones in South London in 1947, he changed his last name to Bowie professionally to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees. Bowie crossed paths with Visconti in the late 1960s as a budding 19-year-old folk rocker, who had a passion for musical theater. His evolving style boggled his management. “His publisher beckoned me,” Visconti recalled to WNYC’s Soundcheck on Thursday . “We have this singer, songwriter.

We don’t know how to categorize him. He’s kind of different.” “Every song is a different kind of song,” the publisher told Visconti. “We’re hoping that you’ll work with him to channel him into one style.” That never happened. Bowie mixed and matched his diverse love for music depending on the decade. After releasing his first mega-hit, the 1969 song “Space Oddity,” nobody could confuse him with anyone else. The tune revolved around a theme of otherworldly otherness that Bowie revisited throughout his eclectic career. The 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” birthed an alter ego of the same name. And with it, his music became buoyed by his look: futuristic costumes, jarring makeup, gender-bending sexuality and dyed hair that contrasted with the hippie culture of the late ’60s. The outrageous outfits anticipated the rise of glam rock years later.

Throughout the ’70s, he dominated the charts with a string of anthems, including “Rebel, Rebel,” “Young Americans” and “Changes.” The rock star's "Reality Tour," which ended in 2004, was his last. (ullstein bild via Getty Images) Bowie (seen in 2007) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. (Evan Agostini/Getty Images For Tribeca Film Fe) Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. His "Reality Tour," which ended in 2004, was his last. During that period he also played a critical role in the careers of two other influential performers, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. But as the era changed, his androgynous “Ziggy Stardust” persona gave way to an MTV-friendly, dapper image and poppy hits such as “Modern Love” in the ’80s. “What I have is a malevolent curiosity,” Bowie told the Daily News in 2002 .

“That’s what drives my need to write, and what probably leads me to look at things a little askew.” Bowie — who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 — had a voracious artistic appetite. He told Vanity Fair in a 1998 Proust questionnaire that his idea of perfect happiness was reading. “I’m a born librarian with a sex drive,” he said. ON A MOBILE DEVICE? WATCH THE VIDEO HERE . January 10 2016 - David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with... David Bowie | Life on Mars Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Share David Bowie (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016) was an English singer from London. He was born in Brixton, London as David Robert Jones, and has sung many acclaimed songs, such as Life on Mars, The Jean Genie and Ashes to Ashes, all of which have been featured in Life on Mars or Ashes to Ashes. As well as being a rock musician, Bowie is an actor and record producer. His instruments include vocal, guitar and keyboard.

David Bowie, Legendary Pop Artist, Dead At 69 SHARE + READ ARTICLE The British musician David Bowie died on Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer, two days after his 69th birthday. The artist’s verified Facebook and Twitter accounts were the first to post the news, which his son, Duncan Jones, then confirmed to Sky News. Bowie was one of the most celebrated musicians of modern times and for many years a figurehead of pop’s avant-garde. He was born David Robert Jones in South London in 1947 and used this surname in the early days of his career, but by 20, he was Bowie: the svelte, almost foppish pop singer increasingly keen on melding the traditions of rock ’n’ roll with the stylistic affectations of camp. Two years later, on his eponymous second album, he released Space Oddity, the track still praised as one of his masterpieces and the one that introduced the world to Major Tom, the astronaut who wistfully sets off to explore the cosmos.

Chris Ratcliffe—AFP/Getty ImagesFlowers are left beneath a mural of British singer David Bowie, painted by street artist James Cochran, known as Jimmy C, following the announcement of Bowie’s death, in Brixton, south London, on Jan. 11, 2016. He was a willful shape-shifter. Major Tom was one in an ensemble of alter egos, which contributed in part to the legendary theatricality of his stage shows. There was, in 1972, Ziggy Stardust, who affirmed the popular image of Bowie as a dazzling androgyne; a year later, there was Aladdin Sane, a darker iteration of Ziggy, haunted by the scepters of fame and drug addiction; in 1976, we met the Thin White Duke, whom writer David Buckley later described as a debonair “barman from hell” inspired by the artist’s penchant for cocaine. By the early 1980s, after a decade of hit singles like “Young Americans” and “Fame,” he was “music’s most exquisite artifact,” as TIME critic Jay Cocks wrote in 1983.

That year, when new-wave sounds of bands like New Order and Duran Duran were setting the tenor of pop, his album Let’s Dance propelled him to a new stratosphere of fame. He was a pioneer beyond music. In a 1976 interview with Playboy, he casually identified himself as bisexual, at a time when bisexuality — or even homosexuality — did not necessarily sit well with the public palate. He was married twice, both times to women: first, from 1970 until 1980 to Angie Barnett, who later alleged he had an affair with Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger, and again to the Somali-American fashion model named as Iman, from 1992 until his death. The couple had one daughter together; Duncan Jones, 44, is from Bowie’s marriage with Barnett. Kanye West hailed David Bowie as one of his “most important inspirations” in a tribute to the singer on Twitter. He says Bowie was “so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime.” The American singer Iggy Pop tweeted: MESSAGE FROM IGGY: "David’s friendship was the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person.

He was the best there is. – Iggy Pop" David Bowie (Author of Moonage Daydream) edit data David Bowie (born David Robert Jones) was an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie was widely regarded as an influential innovator, particularly for his work through the 1970s. Bowie has taken cues from a wide range of fine art, philosophy and literature. He was also a film and stage actor, music video director, and visual artist. David Bowie - Music on Google Play David Bowie About the artist David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in popular music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists.

In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, releasing eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Born in Brixton, South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. "Space Oddity" became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. 1 $9.49 Starting in 2002, David Bowie released two excellent albums in quick succession with old friend Tony Visconti (the brooding Heathen and the more rocking Reality) that showcased a refreshed and rein... 1 1 $9.49 Hours is the twenty-first studio album by English singer David Bowie. It was released on 4 October 1999 on Virgin Records.

This was Bowie's final album for the EMI sub-label. It was the first compl... 1 1 $12.49 Earthling is the twentieth studio album by David Bowie, released in February 1997, by Virgin Records, later reissued on BMG Rights Management. The album showcases an electronica-influenced sound pa... 1 1 $9.49 Earthling is the twentieth studio album by David Bowie, released in February 1997, by Virgin Records, later reissued on BMG Rights Management. The album showcases an electronica-influenced sound pa... 1 1 $9.49 1. Outside is a concept album first released 25 September 1995 by David Bowie on Virgin Records, and Bowie's nineteenth studio album. The album was Bowie's reunion with Brian Eno, whom Bowie had wo... 1 Tin Machine 0 Tin Machine were an English-American hard rock band formed in 1988, famous for being fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals and guitar, Reeves ... 0 Lou Reed 0 Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed was an American musician, singer and songwriter.

He was the guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, and his solo career spanned five decades.... 0 Talking Heads 0 Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison. Described by critic ... 0 Iggy Pop 0 Post Pop Depression is the 17th Iggy Pop album, and a worthy addition to the 22 album legacy spawned with the immortal trilogy of The Stooges, Fun House and Raw Power, spanning massively influentia... 0 Roxy Music 0 Roxy Music were an English rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the band's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. Alongside Ferry, the other longtime members... 0 0 Sophia Anne Caruso is an American actress. Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, Caruso is a New York-based actress and singer. Her professional career began at the age of nine starring as Annie ... 0 The Who 0 The Who are an English rock band that formed in 1964.

Their classic line-up consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist John Entwistle, and drummer K... 0 The Clash 0 The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, dub, funk, ska and rockabill... 0 Elvis Costello 0 Declan Patrick MacManus, better known by his stage name Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the... 0 The Cure 0 The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex, in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the... 0 John Lennon 0 John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. With fellow member Paul McCartne...

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Question: English singer David Bowie was born with which surname?
Answer: Jones