David Bowie
Biography
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 and raised in 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. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single “Starman” and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted radically towards a sound he characterized as “plastic soul,” initially alienating many of his UK devotees but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single “Fame” and the album Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. The following year, he further confounded musical expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low (1977), the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that would come to be known as the Berlin Trilogy. Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes,” its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and “Under Pressure,” a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let's Dance, with its title track topping both UK and US charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. Bowie also continued acting; his roles included Major Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), the Goblin King Jareth in Labyrinth (1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped concert touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar (2016).
Personal info
Gender
Male
Birthday
1947-01-08
Place of birth
London, England, UK
Images
Cast
The Man Who Fell to Earth
1976
6.50
The Prestige
2006
8.20
Basquiat
1996
6.60
David Bowie: An Earthling at 50
1997
0.00
Der Reichstag
2017
8.00
David Bowie: Live at Montreux
2002
0.00
The Last Temptation of Christ
1988
7.22
Into the Night
1985
6.51
The Velvet Underground
2021
6.86
Yellowbeard
1983
5.50
Bandslam
2009
5.82
The Hunger
1983
6.66
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
1983
7.30
Just a Gigolo
1978
4.80
The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch
2003
5.58
Christiane F.
1981
7.33
Imagine: John Lennon
1988
6.90
Zoolander
2001
6.21
Arthur and the Invisibles
2006
6.40
The Filth and the Fury
2000
7.00
WBCN and the American Revolution
2019
5.00
Labyrinth
1986
7.27
August
2008
5.20
Absolute Beginners
1986
5.50
Zappa
2020
7.30
Gunslinger's Revenge
1998
4.50
Live Aid
1985
7.90
Nine Inch Nails: Closure
1997
7.40
The Linguini Incident
1991
6.90
Live Aid Against All Odds
2005
0.00
Bowie: A Reality Tour
2004
8.20
Mr. Rice's Secret
2000
6.00
The Love We Make
2011
7.20
The History of Rock 'n' Roll
1995
10.00
Tina Turner: Private Dancer Tour
1985
7.00
Acoustic at the BBC
2011
4.80
The Concert for New York City
2001
4.80
WHAM!
2023
7.40
Moonage Daydream
2022
7.51
David Bowie: Earthling On TV
1997
0.00
Baal
1982
4.61
Everybody Loves Sunshine
1999
4.80
Rockthology 2
2004
0.00
Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart
1998
7.00
David Bowie: Rockpalast
1996
9.00
LOLA
2023
6.50
David Bowie: Cracked Actor
1975
7.20
The Image
1969
4.70
The Looking Glass Murders
1970
0.00
David Bowie: Out of this World
2021
5.80
Inside the Labyrinth
1986
7.60
Burden
2016
5.90
Night Flight: Born Again
2016
0.00
David Bowie On Stage
1978
0.00
Tin Machine - Live at Paradiso
1989
0.00
Bowie at the BBC
2000
0.00
David Bowie: Serious Moonlight
1984
8.60
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
2014
7.28
Queen: Greatest Video Hits 2
2003
8.40
Dear Bowie
2023
4.00
Goldie: When Saturn Returns
1998
7.00
David Bowie: Best of Bowie
2002
7.00
David Bowie: Glass Spider
1988
8.25
Are We Not Men?
0.00
Fame
1976
0.00
David Bowie: Live by Request
2002
0.00
Queen: Greatest Flix II
1991
8.80
Supergroups
2002
0.00
Video AID
1985
0.00
Inside the Music
2005
0.00
David Bowie Is Happening Now
2013
5.80
The Lost Weekend: A Love Story
2023
6.00
Mickey: The Story of a Mouse
2022
7.00
David Bowie at Live Aid
1985
0.00
The 1980 Floor Show
1973
0.00
David Bowie: Live At The Tokyo Dome
1990
10.00
David Bowie: Sound and Vision
2016
8.00
David Bowie: Starman
2016
7.80
Jim Henson Idea Man
2024
7.70
Bowie at the BBC
2017
6.00
Let's Dance: Bowie Down Under
2015
2.00
David Bowie: VH1 Storytellers
2009
6.50
The Nomi Song
2004
6.48
Vanilla Ice Archive
2012
0.00
A Bing Crosby Christmas
1998
0.00
DEVO
2024
0.00
TIME
2024
0.00
The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
2013
7.20
My Way
2024
7.50
The Virgin Soldiers
1969
6.90
David Bowie - Sound and Vision
2003
10.00
Freddie Mercury: The Final Act
2022
6.80
Bing Crosby: Rediscovered
2014
7.00
Clockwork Orange County
2012
6.00
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1992
7.38
David Bowie: Rare and Unseen
2010
0.00
Ricochet
1984
9.00
Wilde Jahre West-Berlin
2015
0.00
TV Party
2005
7.00
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
2007
6.90
Group Madness
1983
0.00
The Oshima Gang
1983
0.00
Night Lunch
1975
5.00
Bowie: Glastonbury 2000
2018
8.50
Why Are We Creative?
2018
7.60
David Bowie: The Last Five Years
2017
7.10
Diamond Dogs Demo Video
1974
0.00
David Bowie: Finding Fame
2019
6.90
My Music: A Classic Christmas
2019
7.50
Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
2017
7.40
Mayor of the Sunset Strip
2003
6.82
The World of Jim Henson
1994
7.30
Das Prinzip Dada
2016
7.00
Live Aid: 20 Years Ago Today
2005
0.00
Soul Boys of the Western World
2014
6.00
David Bowie: Five Years
2013
7.50
Live Aid
2004
9.19
Kings of Glam
2008
0.00
David Bowie: On the Rock Trail
2015
8.00
The Genius of David Bowie
2012
0.00
David Bowie: London Boy
2021
6.00
Moby Doc
2021
6.10
David Bowie: Live Olympia Paris
2002
9.50
David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust
2006
6.00
David Bowie - Music in Review
2007
0.00
David Bowie - Total Rock Review
2006
0.00
Hr. Vinterberg & Mr. Bowie
2002
0.00
Glam Rock at the BBC
2017
6.50
The Dancing Man of L.A.
2021
0.00
Best of Bowie
2006
0.00
Twiggy
2025
7.20
Pixies: Gouge
2004
7.30
Thriller 40
2023
8.50
The Snowman
1984
7.53
David Bowie - In His Own Words
2016
0.00
Luther: Never Too Much
2024
8.80
The BRITs at 40
2020
0.00
Moonage Ice Cream
2019
10.00
Blackstar
2015
0.00
David Bowie Reality Live
2003
6.00
Can Creativity Save the World?
2024
0.00