If you’re a fan of the English musician, actor, record producer, and arranger David Bowie, check out these 37 interesting facts about his life, family & career.
His full name is David Robert Jones. He was born in Brixton, London on January 8, 1947, and died at age 69 on January 10, 2016.
Bowie appeared to have different colored eyes, one blue and one brown. He didn’t actually have heterochromia – the condition that gives one different colored eyes – but something called anisocoria. This leads one eye’s pupil to be a different size from the other, which makes the eyes appear different.
His mother Peggy claimed Bowie got his love of theater and talent for singing from the Burns’ family (her family).
The family moved from Brixton to Bromley, in Kent.
Bowie left Bromley Technical College with one O Level Qualification. This was in art.
Bowie heard God – it was the voice of American rock ‘n’ roll singer, Little Richard.
He once wrote a play for the BBC called The Champion Flower Grower. It was rejected.
His first album, David Bowie, was released on the same day as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It reached third in the chart.
‘Major Tom’ from the successful song Space Oddity became Bowie’s first alter-ego.
Bowie married his first wife Angie on March 19, 1970. Their first child was named Zowie.
He shares a birthday with Elvis. He was signed by Elvis’ record label RCA, and his three-album deal was worth $37,500.
Bowie came out as bisexual in 1972.
He had his hair cut to match a female model of Kansai Yamamoto’s. This was the start of the ‘Ziggy’ look.
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars gave Bowie his most recognized alter-ego yet – Ziggy Stardust.
‘Ziggy would not leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to sour’. Bowie often found it hard to shake off the character that was Ziggy Stardust.
He wrote most of the Aladdin Sane album in America.
He hated flying. He preferred to travel by train or boat.
The Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture was Bowie’s last tour at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.
The cover of the Pin Ups album featured Bowie, with model Twiggy.
Bowie was cast as the alien, Thomas Jerome Newton in the film adaptation, The Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976.
He caused much controversy when he gave a ‘seig heil’ salute in Victoria Station on May 2nd. He later denied this, even though a ‘swastika’ featured heavily in the China Girl music video.
Bowie toured as a backup vocalist and keyboardist for rocker Iggy Pop, in 1977.
He collaborated with Bing Crosby on ‘Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy’ for Christmas 1977.
Bowie starred in the Broadway production of The Elephant Man in 1980.
Let’s Dance made Bowie a superstar; it became his biggest-selling single.
He collaborated with The Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger on Dancing in the Street.
Bowie became a cult icon for his portrayal of Jareth the Goblin King in Jim Henson’s, Labyrinth.
He helped to launch a community center in Brixton. He donated £200,000 to the cause.
Bowie performed Under Pressure with Annie Lennox at the Freddie Mercury Memorial Concert. He had previously worked on the song with Queen.
He played the part of Andy Warhol in the film Basquiat in 1995.
Bowie married his partner, Iman Abdulmajid in a small ceremony in Switzerland.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
Bowie celebrated his fiftieth birthday by blowing out a candle-covered cake at a Save the Children concert in 1997.
He holds an honorary doctor of music degree.
His son Zowie reverted to using the name Duncan Jones at the age of 18. He became a recognized director for Moon (2009) and Source Code (2011).
His daughter, Alexandria Zahra was born in 2000.
Bowie had heart surgery in Hamburg, after being diagnosed with having an acutely blocked artery.
