David Bowie is one of the brightest and most interesting singers ever born. In this article, we will talk about Bowie’s long and terribly interesting life, how he went to success and what he became famous for.
David Bowie has rightfully taken his place among the world-famous stars. His image has powerfully influenced pop culture, fashion, and even our preferences in music. Who was and how did one of the most outrageous and classy artists live? Read our article and find out!
Biography of David Bowie
Bowie is not only a British rock singer but also a songwriter, producer, sound engineer, artist, and actor. He has been creative for fifty long years, often changing his image, for which he received the nickname “chameleon of rock music.” He knew how to play the guitar, saxophone, and keyboards, and throughout his musical career, he managed to work in thirteen genres.
And, of course, David Bowie had a strong influence on many creative people. But how did it all start?
Childhood of David Bowie
David Robert Jones was born in London on January 8, 1947, and his parents formalized their relationship only eight months after his birth. David Bowie’s parents, Margaret Pegi and Hayward Jones had nothing to do with music or creativity. My mother worked as a movie ticket attendant, and my father worked as a clerk in the personnel department of a local charitable organization.
Until the age of six, Bowie studied at the preparatory class at Stockwell School, and teachers spoke of him in two ways: they noted that the boy was talented and smart, but at the same time he was a bully and a brawler.
Since 1953, David has been studying at an elementary school in the suburbs of London, studying well and participating in the school choir. Teachers called his classes in the choir very mediocre. That’s what surprised them when Bowie became a legend.
Soon David begins to go to music and choreographic circles, and teachers mark him as a brightly artistic, phenomenal boy. Soon Bowie gets acquainted with the work of Elvis Presley and he likes it so much that he asks his father to buy a ukulele and starts playing bass guitar with friends.
That’s just carried away by the music, David scores to study and in 1958 he goes to study at Bromley Technical College because he could not pass the final exam.
College years
During college, he meets Peter Frampton, and his father encourages the guys to continue their musical careers together. They began a short-term collaboration, which soon ended. Only after 30 years, friends will begin creative activity again, but we will talk about this later.
Many people think that David Bowie has different colored eyes, but this is not true. The singer’s slightly strange appearance is the result of a fight with his best friend George Underwood. They quarreled over a girl and during a fight, George accidentally hit him with a fist with a ring on his finger in his left eye, because of which David forever lost color perception in the injured eye and saw everything in brown with his left eye.
In fact, Bowie had a dilated left pupil, which made his eyes look different.
However, they did not quarrel with George Underwood to death: they soon continued close communication and even collaborated. George illustrated David’s early albums.
By the end of college, David Bowie had mastered playing many musical instruments, literally becoming a man-orchestra!
He could play the saxophone, guitar, keyboards, harpsichord, harmonica, piano, mellotron, stylophone, ukulele, xylophone, koto, vibraphone, percussion and percussion. That’s it, right?
The work of David Bowie
Bowie began to seriously engage in creative work at the age of 15: together with friends, he put together the group “The Kon-rads” and they perform at weddings and parties, playing mainly rock and roll.
First failures
A year later, the ambitious and purposeful David leaves his first group and joins The King Bees. And his ambitions are bearing fruit: David writes a letter to millionaire John Bloom, offering to conclude a contract with the group, and he offers to do this to his friend and publisher of the Beatles. And the contract is indeed signed!
Then David takes a pseudonym and becomes David Bowie.
However, this success was followed by a series of failures and group changes. Bowie does not receive recognition, the contract with him is terminated and the singer continues to create, but to no avail. After a series of setbacks, Bowie quits music for two years and
First successes
Only seven years after the start of his creative career, David Bowie begins to win the hearts of listeners. His single “Space Oddity” entered the Top 5 in the UK and was successful not only in Europe but also in the US. Soon the third disc is released – “The Man Who Sold The World”, which was called the beginning of the era of glam rock.
In 1972, Bowie’s first big concert took place, where he performs in the image of Ziggy Stardust. He made a splash, brought fame to the singer, and Bowie went on a tour of the country.
Well, then Bowie goes on a concert tour of the United States, starting with the Music Hall in Cleveland. Albums of a previously unknown loser get into the TOP 10 and even the TOP 3 of the British charts.
His 1973 album “Aladdin Sane” became number one among albums in Britain, and subsequent hits in the top ten in both Britain and the United States.
Recession and drug scandals
In 1974, David Bowie becomes addicted to drugs, which makes new albums sound strange. In the biography of this period, David has several overdoses that clouded his mind, as the singer himself admitted.
In 1976, he goes on a scandalous tour, because of which he runs into criticism, making several shocking statements in support of Adolf Hitler and fascism, and he is detained at customs for transporting fascist paraphernalia.
He soon apologizes for his words and other incidents, stating that hard drugs are to blame.
From 1976-to 77, Bowie lives in West Berlin, rents an apartment with his friend Iggy Pop, and helps him with creativity. He also recorded three albums, which were called the “Berlin Trilogy” and are still at the tops of the British and American charts, and in 1978 he goes on a world tour.
Glory peak
In 1980, Bowie began the life of a superstar: he stopped using drugs, divorced his wife Angela, and recorded the next album with hard rock notes.
At the top of the British music charts is the composition “Under Pressure”, recorded with other rock legends – the Queen group.
All his works, released in the 80s, occupy the highest places on the music charts, Bowie becomes a legend and the very spirit of the eighties.
Then he met his future wife Iman and organized the Tin Machine group.
Musical experiments
In the nineties, Bowie desperately experiments with music, changes his image, and tries new genres. He gets the nickname “chameleon of rock music” and draws up his easily recognizable style.
In 1995, an album was released, recorded with Brian Eno “1. Outside”, in which industrial is harmoniously intertwined with other areas of electronic music.
In 1996, as part of a world tour, Bowie visited Japan, Russia, and Iceland for the first time.
Since 1998, Bowie has been recording compositions for cartoons and computer games, working on a new studio album Heathen, which was released in 2002, and brought Bowie huge success.
In 2003, the album “Reality” was released, and during the tour, Bowie was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of “acutely blocked artery.” His tour was interrupted and the singer was rushed to a hospital in Hamburg for an operation.
Subsequently, he is engaged in creativity, writes songs and recovers from the surgery.
On February 8, 2006, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His authority in the world of rock music and in general in the musical community is considered unquestioned: Bowie is respected and loved for his work.
Bowie retired in August 2011. His biographer declares that it will be a real miracle if he returns and returns only when he is ready to make a real earthquake. But Bowie’s work doesn’t end there, of course!
last years of life
On January 8, 2013, in honor of his birthday, Bowie releases the first single in ten years, “Where Are We Now?”, announces the release of a new studio album, “The Next Day”, which is scheduled for release on March 11.
On February 26, the singer releases a new single, “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”, in the video for which Tilda Swinton and Andrej Pejic starred.
On March 1, the new album appears on iTunes for free listening and tops the charts in 40 countries, which is very, very cool. This is the best-selling record of 2013: over 94,000 copies have been sold!
In general, 2013 is becoming very fruitful for David Bowie: he releases many new videos and songs, gives interviews.
On January 8, 2016, another of his albums “Blackstar” is released, filled with long jazz improvisations, pulsating beats, and a chic combination of electronics and Gregorian choir.
But on January 10, 2016, the world is shaken by the news that David Bowie has passed away. All this time (a year and a half) he fought liver cancer and suffered six heart attacks.
He was cremated and buried in Bali in accordance with the Buddhist ritual:
“Like his close friend Freddie [Mercury], David decided he didn’t want a grave or a monument. He wanted to be remembered for his actions during his lifetime, and not as a monument. The most important thing for him was the preservation of the creative heritage. He wouldn’t want his life to be memorialized with some sort of tombstone.”
— told the press an insider in the Bowie family.
But even after their death, David Bowie’s work continues to live: the singer’s relatives release previously unreleased albums, he is awarded music awards and new species of animals are named after him. And they will even shoot a biopic about him called “Stardust”.
David Bowie discography
In total, throughout his huge career, David Bowie recorded 27 studio albums, 9 live albums, 49 compilations, 6 mini-albums, 121 singles, and 3 soundtracks. And, of course, he has 59 video clips to his credit.
Films with David Bowie
Bowie began acting in films in 1968 and his last film was released in 2009.
The most notable films that are definitely worth watching:
- “The Man Who Fell to Earth”, 1976
- “Hunger”, 1983
- Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence 1983
- “Labyrinth”, 1986
- “The Last Temptation of Christ”, 1988
- “Prestige”, 2006
- “Ponty”, 1999
- “I, Christina”, 1981
Personal life of David Bowie
David Bowie has been married twice.
He met his first wife Angela Barnett in 1969 and married on March 19, 1970, in England. In 1971, their son Zoe was born, who became a film director and directed the films Moon 2112 and Warcraft.
In 1980, in Switzerland, the couple separated after 10 years of marriage.
In 1992, David Bowie married Iman Abdulmajid, a model, in Florence. The wedding was just gorgeous, on a huge scale, and David himself wrote the music for their solemn ceremony.
In 2000, their daughter Alexandria Zahra was born. Here is what Bowie said in an interview about his daughter:
“Lexi completely changed my life! We play, I read to her before bed – it’s so great! I enjoy every second of our communication … Probably, I say completely banal things that are typical for any father – but this is so!
David Bowie Orientation
There are also many rumors about the orientation of David Bowie: in the 1970s, which fell during the heyday of glam rock, the androgynous style was very popular among musicians. Outrageous images of David Bowie fueled the public’s thoughts about his bisexuality, and he confirmed them in an interview with one of the magazines.
However, the singer sometimes recognized his words, sometimes he refused them.
In 1976, Bowie says in an interview with Playboy magazine:
“It’s true – I’m bisexual. But I can’t deny that I benefited a lot from it. I guess that’s the best thing that could have happened to me.”
But in 1980 for Rolling Stone he says:
“That was the biggest mistake I ever made.”
In 1993, the singer says that he has always been a closeted heterosexual, and his interest in LGBT culture was a product of the times and he himself did not feel at ease.
In 2002, Bowie gives an interview to another magazine in which he says that:
“I don’t think it was a mistake in Europe, but in America it was much more reckless. I didn’t have a problem with people knowing about my bisexuality. But I had no desire to hold any posters or be a representative of any group of people. I knew what I wanted to be as a songwriter and artist, and I felt like bisexuality had been my flag here for far too long. America is a very puritanical place. I guess that prevented me from realizing a lot of the things I dreamed of.”
Whether David Bowie was or was not bisexual is not so important. It is much more important than he is an incredible scale star that will forever remain a legend. Our mothers and we grew up under his songs, our children will come off under his songs. So turn on ” Magic Dance” and get nostalgic this Saturday 🙂
