David Bowie

The chameleon of rock who reinvented music and culture.

Bowie formed his first band, the Konrads, in 1962 at age 15.^[1] He took on the stage name David Bowie after the 19th-century American pioneer James Bowie.^[2] His 1969 single "Space Oddity" earned him a contract with Mercury Records and reached the top five in the UK.^[3] Bowie launched his Ziggy Stardust stage show with the Spiders from Mars on 10 February 1972.^[4]

The album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was released in June 1972 and became a defining album of glam rock.^[4] Bowie moved to West Berlin in August 1976 with Iggy Pop to rid themselves of drug addictions.^[5] Up to age six, Bowie was a pupil at Stockwell Infants School, where he gained a name as a talented, determined child and a combative scrapper.^[1] When he was nine, educators described his dance performances as "vividly artistic" and his composure as "astonishing" for someone his age.^[6]

A 1962 school altercation with friend George Underwood over a girl left Bowie with a serious injury to his left eye.^[7] The year 1983 marked the apex of Bowie's popularity and commercial achievement with the album Let's Dance.^[8]

Quick Facts

Birth name

David Robert Jones

Born

8 January 1947

Birthplace

London, England

Died

10 January 2016

Place of death

New York City, US

Occupation

Singer
songwriter
musician
actor
producer

Years active

1962–2016

Children

Duncan, Lexi

Facts from the source article.

What the cited sources add

A film by D A Pennebaker captured Bowie's final performance as Ziggy Stardust at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.^[9] The film did not receive a full theatrical release until 1983.^[9] Bowie accepted an honorary doctorate at the 1999 Berklee Commencement and delivered the commencement address.^[10] Bowie wrote "All the Young Dudes" for Mott the Hoople to stop them from splitting up.^[11]

Bowie's spokesman confirmed the death of his mother in April 2001.^[12]

References

Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sandford 1997, p. 9–16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Trynka 2011, p. 65–66; Cann 2010, p. 64–67; Trynka 2011, p. 65–66; Buckley 2000, p. 21; Pegg 2016, p. 166–167; Trynka 2011, p. 65–66 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pegg 2016, p. 166–167; Pegg 2016, p. 166–167; Spitz 2009, p. 104; O'Leary 2015, p. chap. 4; Pegg 2016, p. 166–167; Sandford 1997, p. 9–16; Parker, "The odd story of 'Space Oddity': How a 'cheap shot' 'novelty record' launched David Bowie into the stratosphere 50 years ago", Yahoo!, 10 July 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buckley 2005, p. 19; Buckley 2005, p. 19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pegg 2016, p. 166–167; Seabrook 2008, p. 82–88; Buckley 2005, p. 19; Pegg 2016, p. 166–167; Sandford 1997, p. 9–16; Gallucci, "40 Years Ago: David Bowie Cleans Up and Branches Out on 'Low'", Ultimate Classic Rock, 14 January 2017; Pegg 2016, p. 166–167 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sandford 1997, p. 9–16; Buckley 2000, p. 21; Sandford 1997, p. 9–16; Doggett, "Teenage Wildlife", Mojo Classic, January 2007, p. 8–9 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stokes, "David Bowie: The man who left the Starman with mismatched eyes", BBC News, 21 September 2024; Evans 2006, p. 57; Basu, "The Story Behind David Bowie's Unusual Eyes", The Cut, 12 January 2016; Buckley 2005, p. 19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "David Bowie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brown, "David Bowie interview from 1996: 'I have done just about everything that it's possible to do'", The Daily Telegraph, 11 January 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", phfilms.com. facts only, no text reused. phfilms.com
"Commencement 1999 – Berklee College of Music", berklee.edu. facts only, no text reused. berklee.edu
"Why David Bowie gave away All the Young Dudes to Mott the Hoople", Wales Online, 18 January 2016. facts only, no text reused. walesonline.co.uk
"Bowie mourns mother's death", BBC News, 2 April 2001. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article David Bowie (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.