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The 15 Best David Bowie Books

Today marks four years since David Bowie died—two days after his 69th birthday, when he also released his final, monumental album, Blackstar . And while there was no shortage of books about him during his lifetime, the market has virtually exploded since his passing. It’s no big secret why: The nature of Bowie’s fame, genius, influences, and influence is an all-encompassing thing that’s relevant to art and photography, fashion, theater and performance, and every shade and school of critical analysis. (There’s also no dearth of scandalous tell-alls and tabloid-y, fly-by-night biographies, which we’re ignoring here out of respect—a man who orchestrated his passing with the level of discretion and artistic triumph that Bowie did doesn’t deserve to be feasted on by scavengers.)

Here’s our pick of the best Bowie books for every person, occasion, and special interest—whether you’re merely interested in looking at some pictures or have committed yourself to a self-taught course in Advanced Bowie Studies.

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The Rise of David Bowie, 1972–1973 by Mick Rock

For pure visual splendor focusing on Bowie’s most well-known persona, Ziggy Stardust, nothing beats this volume of Bowie-blessed photographs from the artist’s official photographer and creative partner—with half of the photos in it published for the first time. For mesmerizing, fly-on-the-wall documentation of Bowie’s glitter-clad, glam-rock, his/her Ziggy, nothing beats this.

On Bowie by Rob Sheffield

Still personal—but less weird than Brooker’s search for meaning—is Rolling Stone contributing editor Rob Sheffield’s tribute, written at lightning speed in the immediate aftermath of Bowie’s passing. Like The Last Interview , it’s a slim volume that packs a punch: While Sheffield’s knowledge of Bowie runs deep, this is neither a showy book nor an academic one, and while his sense of loss is palpable, On Bowie isn’t maudlin or morose—it’s deeply informed, often hilarious, and properly celebratory.

The Age of Bowie: How David Bowie Made a World of Difference by Paul Morley

Morley, a veteran British rock critic, pours blood, sweat, and tears on the pages in this freewheeling, deeply informed, and, yes, ragingly personal admixture of biography, memoir, loving tribute, cultural theory, and enlightened self-help book. Pretentious? At times, wildly—but that’s part of its immense charm. Morley—who conjured the theoretical framework and title of the David Bowie Is exhibitions—states early on that “everybody has their own Bowie,” and it’s his refusal to put constraints on either Bowie or his own rococo rendering of him that that makes these 496 pages so indispensable.

Strange Fascination: Bowie: The Definitive Story by David Buckley

While this biography was published a decade before Bowie died—look elsewhere for coverage of his death, his legacy, and his last two albums—this is likely the most insightful critical biography we have, deeply learned about not just the songs, but the albums, the tours, the personas, and the artistic vision. You’ll have to put a bit more into it than most of the rest of these books, but you’ll reap more from it as well.

Bowie by O’Neill by Terry O’Neill

Where Mick Rock’s book trails off, photographer Terry O’Neill’s book picks up: Witness here the end of Ziggy—announced onstage suddenly by Bowie at the end of a 1973 performance in London, stunning his backing band—and the continued evolution of Bowie circa Young Americans and Diamond Dogs . What this volume lacks in monomania, it more than makes up for in more than 500 photos of immense breadth and depth.

David Bowie

(1947-2016)

Who Was David Bowie?

Rock star David Bowie's first hit was the song "Space Oddity" in 1969. The original pop chameleon, Bowie became a fantastical sci-fi character for his breakout Ziggy Stardust album. He later co-wrote "Fame" with Carlos Alomar and John Lennon, which became his first American No. 1 single in 1975. An accomplished actor, Bowie starred in The Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Shortly after releasing his final album, Bowie died from cancer on January 10, 2016.

Early Years

Known as a musical chameleon for his ever-changing appearance and sound, David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, South London, England, on January 8, 1947.

Bowie showed an interest in music from an early age and began playing the saxophone at age 13. He was greatly influenced by his half-brother Terry, who was nine years older and exposed the young Bowie to the worlds of rock music and beat literature.

But Terry had his demons, and his mental illness, which forced the family to commit him to an institution, haunted Bowie for a good deal of his life. Terry committed suicide in 1985, a tragedy that became the focal point of Bowie's later song, "Jump They Say."

After graduating from Bromley Technical High School at 16, Bowie started working as a commercial artist. He also continued to play music, hooking up with a number of bands and leading a group himself called Davy Jones and the Lower Third. Several singles came out of this period, but nothing that gave the young performer the kind of commercial traction he needed.

Eventually, Bowie went out on his own. But after recording an unsuccessful solo album, Bowie exited the music world for a temporary period. Like so much of his later life, these few years proved to be incredibly experimental for the young artist. For several weeks in 1967 he lived at a Buddhist monastery in Scotland. Bowie later started his own mime troupe called Feathers.

Around this time he also met the American-born Angela Barnett. The two married on March 20, 1970, and had one son together, whom they nicknamed "Zowie," in 1971, before divorcing in 1980. He is now known by his birth name, Duncan Jones.

By early 1969, Bowie had returned full time to music. He signed a deal with Mercury Records and that summer released the single "Space Oddity." Bowie later said the song came to him after seeing Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey: "I went stoned out of my mind to see the movie and it really freaked me out, especially the trip passage."

The song quickly resonated with the public, sparked in large part by the BBC's use of the single during its coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The song enjoyed later success after being released in the United States in 1972, climbing to number 15 on the charts.

Bowie's next album, The Man Who Sold the World (1970), further catapulted him to stardom. The record offered up a heavier rock sound than anything Bowie had done before and included the song "All the Madmen," about his institutionalized brother, Terry. His next work, 1971's Hunky Dory , featured two hits: the title track that was a tribute to Andy Warhol , the Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan ; and "Changes," which came to embody Bowie himself.

Meet Ziggy Stardust

As Bowie's celebrity profile increased, so did his desire to keep fans and critics guessing. He claimed he was gay and then introduced the pop world to Ziggy Stardust, Bowie's imagining of a doomed rock star, and his backing group, The Spiders from Mars.

His 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , made him a superstar. Dressed in wild costumes that spoke of some kind of wild future, Bowie, portraying Stardust himself, signaled a new age in rock music, one that seemed to officially announce the end of the 1960s and the Woodstock era.

More Changes

But just as quickly as Bowie transformed himself into Stardust, he changed again. He leveraged his celebrity and produced albums for Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. In 1973, he disbanded the Spiders and shelved his Stardust persona. Bowie continued on in a similar glam rock style with the album Aladdin Sane (1973), which featured "The Jean Genie" and "Let's Spend the Night Together," his collaboration with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Around this time he showed his affection for his early days in the English mod scene and released Pin Ups , an album filled with cover songs originally recorded by a host of popular bands, including Pretty Things and Pink Floyd.

By the mid 1970s, Bowie had undergone a full-scale makeover. Gone were the outrageous costumes and garish sets. In two short years, he released the albums David Live (1974) and Young Americans (1975). The latter album featured backing vocals by a young Luther Vandross and included the song "Fame," co-written with John Lennon and Carlos Alomar, which became Bowie’s first American number one single.

In 1980, Bowie, now living in New York, released Scary Monsters , a much-lauded album that featured the single "Ashes to Ashes," a sort of updated version of his earlier "Space Oddity."

Three years later Bowie recorded Let's Dance (1983), an album that contained a bevy of hits such as the title track, "Modern Love" and "China Girl," and featured the guitar work of Stevie Ray Vaughan .

Of course, Bowie's interests didn't just reside with music. His love of film helped land him the title role in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). In 1980, Bowie starred on Broadway in The Elephant Man , and was critically acclaimed for his performance. In 1986, he starred as Jareth, the Goblin King, in the fantasy-adventure film Labyrinth , directed by Jim Henson and produced by George Lucas . Bowie performed opposite teenage Jennifer Connolly and a cast of puppets in the movie, which became a 1980s cult classic.

Over the next decade, Bowie bounced back and forth between acting and music, with the latter especially suffering. Outside of a couple of modest hits, Bowie's musical career languished. His side project with musicians Reeve Gabrels and Tony and Hunt Sales, known as Tin Machine, released two albums, Tin Machine (1989) and Tin Machine II (1991), which both proved to be flops. His much-hyped album Black Tie White Noise (1993), which Bowie described as a wedding gift to his new wife, supermodel Iman , also struggled to resonate with record buyers.

Oddly enough, the most popular Bowie creation of that period was Bowie Bonds, financial securities the artist himself backed with royalties from his pre-1990 work. Bowie issued the bonds in 1997 and earned $55 million from the sale. The rights to his back catalog were returned to him when the bonds matured in 2007.

Later Years

In 2004, Bowie received a major health scare when he suffered a heart attack while on stage in Germany. He made a full recovery and went on to work with bands such as Arcade Fire and with the actress Scarlett Johansson on her album Anywhere I Lay My Head (2008), a collection of Tom Waits covers.

Bowie, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, was a 2006 recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He kept a low profile for several years until the release of his 2013 album The Next Day , which skyrocketed to number 2 on the Billboard charts. The following year, Bowie released a greatest hits collection, Nothing Has Changed , which featured the new song "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)." In 2015, he collaborated on Lazarus , an Off-Broadway rock musical starring Michael C. Hall, which revisited his character from The Man Who Fell to Earth .

Bowie released Blackstar , his final album, on January 8, 2016, his 69th birthday. New York Times critic Jon Pareles noted that it was a "strange, daring and ultimately rewarding" work "with a mood darkened by bitter awareness of mortality." Only a few days later, the world would learn that the record had been made under difficult circumstances.

Death and Legacy

The music icon died on January 10, 2016, two days after his 69th birthday. A post on his Facebook page read: “David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer."

He was survived by his wife Iman, his son Duncan Jones and daughter Alexandria, and his step-daughter Zulekha Haywood. Bowie also left behind an impressive musical legacy, which included 26 albums. His producer and friend Tony Visconti wrote on Facebook that his last record, Blackstar , was "his parting gift."

Friends and fans were heartbroken at his passing. Iggy Pop wrote on Twitter that "David's friendship was the light of my life. I never met such a brilliant person." The Rolling Stones remembered him on Twitter as "a wonderful and kind man" and "a true original." And even those who didn't know personally felt the impact of his work. Kanye West tweeted, "David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations." Madonna posted "This great Artist changed my life!"

In February 2017, Bowie was recognized for the success of his final album, as he was named the winner in the Best Alternative Rock Album, Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical), Best Recording Package, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song categories at the Grammy Awards.

In late 2017, HBO unveiled a trailer for the documentary David Bowie: The Last Five Years , which explores the period in which the artist released his final two albums and brought his stage musical to life. Airing January 8, 2018, on what would have been his 71st birthday, the documentary features never-before-seen footage of Bowie and conversations with the musicians, producers and music video directors who worked with him on his final tour.

In the spring of 2018, Spotify's "David Bowie Subway Takeover" was unveiled in New York City's interconnected Broadway-Lafayette and Bleecker Street stations. An extension of the "David Bowie Is" exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, the subway displays included splashy photos, fan artwork and quotes from the musician, with each major piece containing a Spotify code for audio accompaniment.

That summer, it was announced that the earliest known studio recording of Bowie, from 1963, would go on sale at auction. Then still known by his birth name of David Jones and a member of a band called The Konrads, Bowie sang lead vocals on a song titled "I Never Dreamed" as part of an audition for Decca Records. The demo, never released, was discovered in the house of the group's former drummer and manager.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: David Bowie
• Birth Year: 1947
• Birth date: January 8, 1947
• Birth City: London
• Birth Country: England
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: David Bowie was an English rock star known for dramatic musical transformations, including his character Ziggy Stardust. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Astrological Sign: Capricorn
• Death Year: 2016
• Death date: January 10, 2016
• Death State: New York
• Death City: New York City

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• Article Title: David Bowie Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/david-bowie
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• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: August 24, 2022
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• When I'm stuck for a closing to a lyric, I will drag out my last resort: overwhelming illogic.
• I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human.

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David Bowie (born January 8, 1947, London , England—died January 10, 2016, New York , New York, U.S.) was a British singer, songwriter, and actor who was most prominent in the 1970s and best known for his shifting personae and musical genre hopping.

To call Bowie a transitional figure in rock history is less a judgment than a job description. Every niche he ever found was on a cusp, and he was at home nowhere else—certainly not in the unmoneyed London suburb where his childhood was as dingy as his adult life would be glitzy. While this born dabbler’s favourite pose was that of a Great Artist beguiled by rock’s possibilities as a vehicle, in truth he was more a rocker drawn to artiness because it worked better than any other pose he had tried (not that he was not eclectic—he admired Anthony Newley and Jacques Brel and studied mime with Lindsay Kemp). During the mod era of the 1960s he fronted various bands from whose minuscule shadow he—having renamed himself to avoid confusion with the singer of the Monkees —emerged as a solo singer-songwriter. “ Space Oddity,” the science-fiction single that marks the real beginning of his career, reached the top 10 in Britain in 1969 but did not become an American radio staple until some years later, though Bowie had cannily pegged its original release to the Apollo 11 Moon mission. His first album of note, The Man Who Sold the World (1970), a prescient hybrid of folk, art rock , and heavy metal , did not turn him into a household name either. Not until Hunky Dory (1971) did he hit on the attractively postmodern notion of presenting his chameleonism as an identity rather than the lack of one.

At once frivolous and portentous, this approach was tailor-made for the 1970s, Bowie’s signature decade. In the wake of the counterculture’s failure to achieve utopia or even a workable modus vivendi, Bowie concocted a series of inspired, nervily grandiose pastiches that insisted on utopia by depicting its alternative as inferno, beginning with the emblematic rock-star martyr fantasy The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). In the process he stayed so hard on the heels of the zeitgeist that the doomsaying of Diamond Dogs (1974) and the disco romanticism of Young Americans (1975) were released less than a year apart. Bowie also became the first rock star to turn a confession of bisexuality into a shrewd career move (and also the first, some years later, to suspect that times had changed enough for recanting to be an even shrewder one). Yet all this took a private toll.

By 1977 Bowie had decamped, ditching his idiosyncratic version of the mainstream for the avant-garde austerities of Low , a collaboration with Brian Eno , the most eggheaded of the several musical helpmates that Bowie always knew how to put to good use, including guitarists Mick Ronson and Carlos Alomar and ace nouveau-funk producer Nile Rodgers for “Let’s Dance” (1983), when he needed a hit. As music , Low and its sequels, “ Heroes” (1977) and Lodger (1979), would prove to be Bowie’s most influential and lasting, serving as a blueprint for a later generation of techno -rock. In the short run, they marked the end of his significant mass audience impact, though not his sales—thanks mostly to Rodgers.

In the 1980s, despite the impressive artistic resolve of Scary Monsters (1980) and the equally impressive commercial calculation of Let’s Dance (1983), which produced three American top 20 hits, Bowie’s work grew steadily more trivial. In tandem with an acting career that, since his arresting debut in Nicolas Roeg ’s The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), largely failed to jell, his vague later albums oscillated between would-be commercial moves for which he did not seem to have the heart ( Never Let Me Down [1987]) and would-be artistic statements for which he had lost his shrewdness ( Outside [1995]). As of the late 1990s, he seemed a spent force, and perhaps Bowie’s greatest innovation in this era was the creation of Bowie Bonds, financial securities backed by the royalties generated by his pre-1990 body of work. The issuing of the bonds in 1997 earned Bowie $55 million, and the rights to his back catalog returned to him when the bonds’ term expired in 2007. His 1970s work including, in addition to his own output, service as a producer on landmark albums from Mott the Hoople , Lou Reed , and Iggy and the Stooges remains a vital and often compelling index to a time it did its part to shape. Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Bowie continued to record into the 21st century, although a fallow period that followed the release of the backward-looking Reality (2003) led to speculation that he had retired. He unexpectedly resurfaced a decade later with The Next Day (2013), a collection of assured, mostly straightforward, rock songs. The searching, jazz-infused Blackstar (2016) was released two days before his death from cancer. In Bowie’s final years he also cowrote the musical Lazarus (premiered 2015), which was inspired by The Man Who Fell to Earth , and he was the subject of a blockbuster art exhibition, David Bowie Is (opened 2013).

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David Bowie: A Life Hardcover – September 12, 2017

• Print length 544 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Crown Archetype
• Publication date September 12, 2017
• Dimensions 6.47 x 1.45 x 9.53 inches
• ISBN-10 045149783X
• ISBN-13 978-0451497833
• See all details

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About the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown Archetype (September 12, 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 544 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 045149783X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451497833
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.71 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.47 x 1.45 x 9.53 inches
• #2,274 in Rock Band Biographies
• #7,159 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies

About the author

Dylan jones.

Dylan Jones studied at Chelsea School Of Art and then St. Martin’s School of Art. He is the award-winning editor of GQ magazine, a position he has held since 1999, and has won the British Society of Magazine Editors “Editor of the Year” award a record ten times. In 2013 he was also the recipient of the prestigious Mark Boxer Award.

Under his editorship the magazine has won over 50 awards.

A former editor at i-D, The Face, Arena, the Observer and the Sunday Times, he is the author of the New York Times best seller Jim Morrison: Dark Star, the much-translated iPod, Therefore I Am and Mr. Jones’ Rules, as well as the editor of the classic collection of music writing, Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy. He edited a collection of journalism from Arena - Sex, Power & Travel - and collaborated with David Cameron on Cameron on Cameron: Conversations with Dylan Jones (shortlisted for the Channel 4 Political Book of the Year).

He was the Chairman of the Prince’s Trust’s Fashion Rocks Monaco, is a board member of the Norman Mailer Writers Colony and a Trustee of the Hay Festival. He is also the chairman of London Fashion Week: Men’s, London’s first men’s fashion week, launched in 2012 at the behest of the British Fashion Council.

In 2010 he spent a week in Afghanistan with the Armed Forces, collaborating on a book with the photographer David Bailey: British Heroes in Afghanistan.

In 2012 he had three books published: The Biographical Dictionary of Music; When Ziggy Played Guitar: David Bowie and Four Minutes that Shook the World, and the official book of U2’s 360 Tour, published in October. Since then he has published

The Eighties: One Day One Decade, a book about the 1980s told through the prism of Live Aid, Elvis Has Left The Building: The Day The King Died, Mr. Mojo, London Rules, a polemic about the greatest city in the world, Manxiety and London Sartorial.

In June 2013 he was awarded an OBE for services to publishing and the fashion industry. In 2014 he was made an Honorary Professor of Glasgow Caledonian University.

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Customers find the book a great read with deeply insightful interviews. They also describe the content as complex and influential. However, some readers feel the narrative style is not a narrative biography, but an oral history.

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Customers find the book a great read, beautifully realized, and addictive. They also say it's a good buy.

"...Actually, that's a minor complaint of this very rich, thorough book ...." Read more

"...else about Bowie...but if you know the basics of his life story, it's a great read ." Read more

"...of interviews by those that knew David closely is unique and clearly enjoyable - since each is a "first hand" account..." Read more

"This was a great read and I didn’t want it to end!..." Read more

Customers find the book's content insightful, interesting, and entertaining. They also say it's complex, influential, and honest.

" Lots of interesting biographical info without an emphasis on salacious gossip like Angie Bowie’s and Wendy Leigh’s books." Read more

"...to the director for Bowie's final video, this book contains deeply insightful interviews with almost all of the key people in his life...." Read more

"...is not just in hearing what was happening, it is in the personal and emotional honesty that seeps through as each individual recounts their part in..." Read more

"...a better sense of who he was -- polite, intelligent, passionate, intellectual , kind to others, wild like the wind he sang about, driven by the need..." Read more

Customers find the book beautiful and each piece of the puzzle beautifully illuminated.

"...Each piece of the puzzle is beautifully illuminated by the perspective of individuals interviewed, who are allowed room to tell their own personal..." Read more

"...Bowie could be introspective and chatty, sexy and confident, then silly in a lovable way. Complex, influential -- he was definitely one of a kind." Read more

"It was fast and the book is beautiful ❤️" Read more

Customers find the narrative style of the book to be poor. They mention that it's not a narrative biography, but an oral history.

"...that an "oral history biography" was a disjointed and redundant biography by a lazy writer ...." Read more

"...Mr. Jones is the editor of a compendium... not the author of a book ." Read more

"Be aware that this is not a narrative biography but an oral history--made up almost entirely of pieces of interviews--but they tell Bowie's life..." Read more

"Some great interviewees ... but not so great biography ..." Read more

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David Robert Jones is the name on his birth certificate. Those three words don’t seem capable of containing the multitudes of the man. The name he chose, David Bowie , conjures thousands of men who shared the same body: Ziggy Stardust, Thomas Jerome Newton, Jareth the Goblin King, The Thin White Duke, Vendice Partners, Aladdin Sane, Brian Slade, Jack Celliers, John Blaylock, and on and on. He was the platonic ideal of the rock star, a man with insatiable appetites who made the world lie down before him, roll over and play dead. He tried everything once and reinvented himself whenever he pleased, shedding skins and starting over as if keeping to a tight schedule. When fictionalizing him in the 1998 arthouse touchstone " Velvet Goldmine ," Todd Haynes imagined this man as an alien dropped in from another planet to make our world a little sweeter and sexier, and that’s been our shared concept of the man since his first trip the United States in the early '70s. He did everything with finality and grace, seemingly aware that no matter who followed him, no one would ever do it better. Cancer has taken him, at age 69, hopefully secure in the knowledge that most of western music would never have sounded this way without him.

He was born in Brixton in 1947 and was barely old enough to drive when he released his first record, a kooky self-titled folk whatsit that felt like a kid-friendly parallel to the movement spearheaded by groups like Fairport Convention and Pentangle. His second album underwent a number of title changes before being stamped with the title of its hit single in 1972, "Space Oddity." With this song, David Bowie secured his place as a pop culture legend. To this day it’s used in films to signal titanic shifts in perception, because no song quite captures the feeling of moving towards the future. The song has aged better than nearly anything from that era because it doesn’t sound like a conventional pop song. This was the first taste the world got of his unique songwriting. Those chords, the baroque arrangement, the sci-fi subject matter, the elastic baritone in which he wailed. It’s an unforgettable song and it kicked off a hot streak totally unknown in the annals of pop history. He’d release an average of an album a year from that point on until the late '80s, when he’d slow to an album every other year. During that period, he abused every substance he could find, tossed ridged gender identity in the trash, discovered Luther Vandross, collaborated with Queen, invented post-punk music, released something like ten of the best albums in modern western musical history, changed hundreds of lives with his music and fluid personae, and to hear some tell it he brought down the Berlin Wall. He released his 25th and final album on January 8th, two days before he passed away, gracing us with one last reinvention into a savvy, 21st century pop icon who fully understood the direction music is headed. He seemed to know everything about what the world most needed from its musical icons and always appeared happy to be able to offer himself to the pop culture-hungry masses.

His flirtations with film and television seem an extension of the generosity with which he approached music and his fans. His first starring role was, fittingly, as an alien in Nic Roeg’s "The Man Who Fell to Earth," based on the amazing novel by Walter Tevis . Bowie’s Thomas Jerome Newton is a pale dandy with a shock of electric ginger hair. He’s come to Earth to try and transport water back to his home planet but becoming human gets in his way. He develops a dependence on alcohol and an obsession with observing human media through a bank of TVs in his flat. This seemed to mirror Bowie’s own relation to the world he described in his music: it was big and alienating and he both feared and desired to be a part of it. His frail figure seemed an incompatible vessel for the decadent yearnings in Bowie’s soul. There’s no separating Bowie from the characters he played. They all seemed to stack up behind his unknowable eyes. This made him a totally singular screen presence and turned everything he starred in to a cult item, worthy of fascination and study.

His follow-up to “The Man Who Fell To Earth” was the little-loved 1978 “Just a Gigolo,“ directed by David Hemmings , an actor in the process of losing his Bowie-esque good looks. Fittingly, he plays an object of lust to a host of famous vamps like Kim Novak and Marlene Dietrich, further underlying the sense that Bowie was a timeless figure who could have fit into any era. He would appear in Uli Edel ’s “Christiane F.”, Alan Clarke ’s TV play “Baal," where he plays a bitter, destitute banjo-strumming poet fond of sayings like, “Our planet is full of animals eating up its plant. One of the dimmer planets …” and Nagisa Oshima ’s “ Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence ,” the same year as his incendiary discotheque record “Let’s Dance,” the last of his indisputable classic albums. 

The year 1983 signaled the shift from his reign as a superstar among superstars into a living legend, whose presence ensured an audience of devoted worshippers. In “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” he plays a POW with eyes of two different colours. A sadistic captain (played, symmetrically enough, by genius composer Ryuichi Sakamoto ) fixates upon Bowie’s taciturn Major Jack Celliers, and becomes determined to be his undoing. It was a weirdly accurate portrayal of the public’s relationship to Bowie. Fame and money had sent Bowie into a drug-fueled tailspin from which he only rescued himself in the late '70s while recording his Berlin trilogy—the albums “Low," “Heroes” and “Lodger.” “Mr. Lawrence” presents the tragedy that Bowie’s life might have become if he hadn’t learned to deal with parasitic minders, his own vices and the always hungry public. Another role from that year plays with the same themes, cheekily confirming what many people might have assumed of the seemingly ageless pop star. In Tony Scott ’s “ The Hunger ,” he plays the vampire John Blaylock, who suddenly succumbs to the age he’d been cheating for hundreds of years. This also seems an eerie comment on Bowie’s stardom; that at any moment everything that made him immortal might disappear.

Following these two hugely compelling turns, Bowie narrowed his field, accepting roles for artists in whom he saw a spark of the uncanny. For Jim Henson he was the king of the Goblins in the kid-friendly “ Labyrinth ," who sings and dances in an unforgettably flamboyant ensemble. He starred in Julien Temple ’s kitchen sink musical “Absolute Beginners," which keeps threatening to become a cult sensation but can’t quite gather the necessary steam. He played Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese ’s hypnotic biblical epic “ The Last Temptation of Christ ." Bowie seemed to understand the magnitude of his stardom and what his appearances in films like this would say to the public. It’s tough, after all, not to know that people look at the biggest rock star in the world differently than everyone else in the cast. So when he did little supporting turns for Scorsese or David Lynch in “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," he was engaging in his own self-mythologizing, but also adding to the air of mystery and strangeness of the projects. When he walks on screen in these projects, there’s still something of the alien about him. His screen presence was rarefied and commanding. Taking on roles as hugely public figures like Pilate, Andy Warhol (in Julian Schnabel ’s “ Basquiat ”) and Nikola Tesla (in Christopher Nolan ’s “ The Prestige ”) was akin to shorthand: how does one communicate an almost impossible celebrity just by pointing a camera at the figure in question? Point it at David Bowie.

Naturally, Bowie had a sense of humor about himself and his massive celebrity. He played himself several times in everything from an episode of Spongebob Squarepants to Ricky Gervais ’ series "Extras" (in which he sings a show-stopping improvised song about Gervais’ sad sack hero, among the funniest things to air on HBO) to Ben Stiller ’s smash comedy blockbuster " Zoolander " to the 2009 teen comedy " Bandslam ." He wasn’t pretentious and he accepted love from whatever direction it took, which meant collaborating with everybody, whether TV On The Radio or Vanessa Hudgens . This may be why he’s allowed his music to be used by just about everyone who’s ever requested the rights. His music has influenced and impacted film and TV a hundred different ways. Wes Anderson and Seu Jorge translated Bowie's early '70s hits into Portuguese for the soundtrack to Anderson's " The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou ," one of the most popular and singular soundtracks of all time. The abrupt intrusion of “Young Americans” over the end credits of “ Dogville ” is a right hook of ugly irony from which audiences may never recover. His song for Lynch’s " Lost Highway " seemed designed to keep viewers in a state of suspended animation long after they left the theatre. The sequence in Leos Carax ’s 1986 "Mauvais Sang," in which Denis Lavant ’s longing is externalized in a furious running dance to "Modern Love," is one of the most beautiful, powerful pieces of filmmaking of all time. Bowie’s voice says things that people (and by extension movie characters and screenwriters) can’t. As with his acting, his music can both ground a film or send it to the stratosphere.

And just as everyone has their favorite Bowie album, everyone also has their favorite David Bowie: The sturdily strange actor; the “Labyrinth” star who hides in fond childhood memories; the angular, sexy glam/goth icon; the man who invented and reinvented pop music; the dapper, good-natured arbiter of all things cool, wearing old age like a pair of velvet gloves; the gender-bending hero of the counter culture. The man who, by becoming someone else, showed us it was OK to be ourselves, to embrace what scares us, what we’re terrified of letting the world see. Few people ever actually wind up being all things to all people, but he managed by never saying no to his muse and remaining true to himself. His music has filled millions of headphones at crucial junctures for millions of kids, and, like the answer to an SOS, reminded everyone that there is hope; being ecstatically weird is more than OK. He changed the world through his music, and just by being David Bowie when he could have been David Robert Jones. His 1977 album "Low," with its paranoid synth soundscapes and drums amplified and altered by the Eventide harmonizer, was the primary influence on the band Joy Division as they recorded their groundbreaking first record "Unknown Pleasures." Meanwhile Bauhaus was covering "Ziggy Stardust," and Talking Heads had their sound changed by Bowie’s collaborator/producer Brian Eno using methods developed during the creation of the Berlin albums. In short, a huge swath of the post-punk movement owes Bowie a debt of gratitude and that was the music of my adolescence, the stuff I listened to during the worst of my aimless, somber college years and during bad break-ups. 

David Bowie created music for every circumstance. Soul, dance and glam for the highs, moody, pulsing electronica for the lows. We may never look this generous, gorgeous genius in the eye again, but he’s curated entire lives yet to be lived and changed what it means to be an artist. Summing up his achievements is a fool’s errand because he did it all, so maybe it’s best to simply say the world will always be richer because he was here. 

Scout Tafoya

Scout Tafoya is a critic and filmmaker who writes for and edits the arts blog Apocalypse Now and directs both feature length and short films.

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On the Books That Most Influenced the Great David Bowie

Genius recognizes genius.

Widely acknowledged as one of the most influential artists and pop-cultural icons of the 20th century, David Bowie created music that was laced with symbolism and references. This not only showcased Bowie’s talent as an artist but proved Bowie was an avid consumer of art himself. Below are some of the books that influenced and helped shape the artist and personality of David Bowie.

Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange (1962)

The debt owed by David Bowie’s first hit song, “Space Oddity,” to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey couldn’t be more obvious. But Kubrick’s next film, a chilly adaptation of Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange , is where the story really gets interesting.

Set in a totalitarian, future-present Britain, A Clockwork Orange is the story of delinquent, Beethoven-loving schoolboy Alex, the leader of a gang that spends its nights raping and pillaging while wired on amphetamine-laced “milk-plus.” Kubrick had set aside his planned biopic of Napoléon Bonaparte to make a movie version after being given a copy of the book by screenwriter Terry Southern, with whom he’d worked on Dr. Strangelove , and falling in love with it. In 1972 Bowie repurposed its swagger and shock value for his career-making turn as “leper messiah” Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star with fluffy red hair and a weakness for asymmetric knitted bodysuits who ends up being killed by his fans.

Ziggy was a collision of unstable elements—some obscure (drugaddled rocker Vince Taylor; American psychobilly pioneer the Legendary Stardust Cowboy), others less so. It’s easy to see what Bowie took from Kubrick’s movie because, like his hijacking of the melody from “Over the Rainbow” for the chorus of “Starman,” the borrowing is so blatant. Bowie-as-Ziggy walked onstage to Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9, as played by Moog synthesizer maestro Wendy Carlos, while his band the Spiders’ costumes were modeled on those of Alex and his droogs—“friends” in Burgess’s invented language Nadsat.

The early 70s was a grim, embattled era in England. John Lennon sang in 1970 that the (hippie) dream was over. But 1971 was the year things turned brutish as the alternative society splintered into a mass of competing factions such as the radical-left urban terrorists the Angry Brigade—Britain’s answer to Germany’s Baader-Meinhof gang—who launched a string of bomb attacks against Establishment targets. Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange came out in the UK in January 1972, five months before The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . The following year the director withdrew it from cinemas after receiving death threats; the gesture amplified the film’s air of leering menace while saying a good deal about the febrile social climate.

Both the movie and its source novel celebrate the exquisite sense of belonging that being in a gang affords. But they’re also interested in the aftermath: what happens when the gang dissolves and the power that held it together leaks away. You can, if you want, see Alex as Ziggy and his droogs as the Spiders—the fictional band, not Bowie’s actual musicians Mick Ronson, Woody Woodmansey, and Trevor Bolder. In Bowie’s opaque Ziggy narrative they’re cast as bitter sidemen who bitch about their leader’s fans and wonder if they should give him a taste of the old ultraviolence by crushing his sweet hands. . . .

The novel itself had a tragic genesis. The story goes that in 1959 Burgess was diagnosed incorrectly with terminal brain cancer. Spurred into action, he wrote five novels very quickly to support his soon-to-be widow. A Clockwork Orange took him three weeks and was inspired by a horrific incident in April 1944 where his first wife, Lynne, pregnant at the time—she subsequently miscarried—was assaulted in a blackout by a group of American soldiers. She’d been on her way home from the London offices of the Ministry of War Transport where she was involved in planning the D-Day landings. A Clockwork Orange is interested not just in what might drive someone to carry out this kind of attack, but also in the ethics of rehabilitation. Can you force someone to be good by torturing them, as per the Ludovico Technique aversion therapy Alex undergoes?

If Burgess and Kubrick were equally important to Bowie, it’s worth noting the differences in their visions, differences Burgess considered so stark he ended up renouncing the novel because he felt the film made it easy for readers to misunderstand the book. He meant that his handling of sex and violence was more nuanced than Kubrick’s, which might be true, though in some ways the novel is nastier—for example, the scene where Alex rapes two underage girls after getting them drunk. In the movie they are clearly adult women, the sex is clearly consensual, and Kubrick uses a fast-motion technique to blur the action and create a slapstick tone.

The biggest difference, though, has to do with the ending. The British edition of the novel ends on an optimistic note, with Alex turning his back on violence and contemplating fatherhood. But the original US edition on which Kubrick based his screenplay omits this epilogue. It ends with Alex saying sarcastically, “I was cured all right,” having just shared with us his dream of “carving the whole litso [face] of the creeching [screaming] world with my cut-throat britva [razor].”

Burgess had been intrigued by the razor-packing teddy boys of the late 1950s. Kubrick picked up on the androgyny of the mod culture Bowie flirted with in the mid-1960s. For example, Kubrick turned Alex’s false eyelashes—bought in bulk from hip London boutique Biba, bombed by the Angry Brigade shortly after the shoot concluded—into a key visual motif. Nadsat, the Anglo-Russian slang spoken by Alex, crops up in “Suffragette City.” But the way Bowie used it decades later in one of his final songs, “Girl Loves Me,” suggests a deeper appreciation that leads back to the rich linguistic textures of the novel. For in “Girl Loves Me,” Bowie mixes it knowingly with the secret gay language Polari, reinforcing the cultural historian Michael Bracewell’s point that A Clockwork Orange was an audit on modern masculinity. Finding men to be in crisis, the movie hastened the birth of a new kind of loner—the young soul rebel, who offset corruption with an intense emotional idealism. That sounds like Bowie to me.

Read it while listening to: “Girl Loves Me,” “Suffragette City”

If you like this, try: Graham Greene, Brighton Rock

Yukio Mishima, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1963)

In the Berlin flat where he lived while he was recording “Heroes” , Bowie slept beneath his own painting of Yukio Mishima, the handsome Japanese multihyphenate (author, actor, playwright, singer, terrorist) who committed suicide by hara-kiri in November 1970 after he and four members of his Tatenokai private militia failed in their attempt to incite a coup intended to restore the power of Japan’s emperor.

What did Bowie find so admirable in Mishima’s warrior machismo? Perhaps the fact that it was so obviously a performance. Film historian Donald Richie, who knew Mishima, thought him a dandy whose talent was bound up with his understanding that if you behave the way you want to be, you will become it: you become who you are by practicing.

As a child, Kimitake Hiraoka—Yukio Mishima was a pseudonym—was raised in isolation by his deranged, bullying grandmother Natsu, who refused to let him play with other boys or be exposed to sunlight. Encouraged by her, he read everything he could lay his hands on and emerged a model of poised, precocious elegance. To exorcise his shame at having been rejected by the army on health grounds, an event recounted in his semiautobiographical first novel Confessions of a Mask , he transformed his weedy body into a solid knot of muscle. He learned the ways of the samurai, becoming skilled at kendo (swordsmanship).

Despite having a wife and two children, Mishima was openly gay rather than bisexual; he rationalized this paradox in a later autobiographical work, Sun and Steel , as a means of embracing contradiction and collision. (Another key scene in Confessions of a Mask is his first, explosively successful attempt at masturbation, electrifyed by a painting of St. Sebastian pierced all over by arrows.) To please his ailing mother, his marriage was an arranged one, in traditional Japanese fashion. Among Mishima’s requirements were that his bride should be no taller than he; pretty, with a round face; and careful not to disturb him while he worked. Eventually he settled on Yoko Sugiyama, the 21-year-old daughter of a popular Japanese painter.

Having himself come out as bisexual in 1972, albeit in what was felt to be a publicity stunt, Bowie was still talking up his fluidity four years later. His gay side was mostly dormant, Bowie explained to 19-year-old Cameron Crowe in a deliberately outrageous interview in the September 1976 issue of Playboy , but visiting Japan always roused it reliably: “There are such beautiful-looking boys over there. Little boys? Not that little. About 18 or 19. They have a wonderful sort of mentality. They’re all queens until they reach 25, then suddenly they become samurai, get married and have thousands of children. I love it.”

An allegory of Japan’s postwar humiliation not usually ranked among Mishima’s best works, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea has the brutal symmetry of one of the Grimms’ fairy tales Mishima devoured as a child. It unfolds in a suburb of Yokohama in the aftermath of the war. Fusako, a widow who runs a store selling European luxury goods, takes a sailor, Ryuji, as a lover. Her son Noboru watches them have sex through a peephole in his room. At first Noboru idolizes Ryuji as a hero who has traveled the world, but the next day, on the way back from killing and vivisecting a stray kitten with his sociopathic school friends, he meets Ryuji again and decides he is weak and ineffectual because he has sprayed water on himself to keep cool.

Ryuji swaps his seafaring life for domestic security with Noboru’s mother. But Noboru is unimpressed, even more so when Fusako catches him looking through the peephole a second time, and Ryuji refuses to punish Noboru despite Fusako’s urging. Noboru and his gang decide to restore Ryuji’s lost honor by giving him the full kitten treatment.

Anyone who managed to miss the Mishima-ish themes (affronted honor, repressed homosexuality) of Nagisa Oshima’s Second World War drama Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence , in which Bowie played imprisoned British officer Major Jack Celliers, could find elucidation in the title of David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s haunting theme song—“Forbidden Colors,” after Mishima’s novel of the same name. Bowie himself returned to Mishima on 2013’s The Next Day , borrowing Spring Snow ’s ominous image of a dead dog obstructing a waterfall for the lyrics of the sparse, Scott Walker–style “Heat.”

Read it while listening to: “Blackout”

If you like this, try: Yukio Mishima, Confessions of a Mask

James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (1963)

The song “Black Tie, White Noise” from the 1993 album of that name is one of Bowie’s least elliptical lyrics and represents perhaps his most personal statement on the subject of race. Hiding from the 1992 LA riots in a hotel room, the recently married Bowie and Iman are having sex. But in the thick of this intimate moment Bowie looks into his Somali wife’s eyes and wonders if, despite being a well-meaning white liberal, he really understands her blackness, or if he’s living in a Benetton-advert multicultural fantasy world. He hints that he is scared himself, as a famous white man, by the rioting black crowds below. Assuming there’s a part of Iman that shares their anger, is any of it directed at him? In an astonishing line which he repeats three times, Bowie reassures himself that Iman—and by extension Al B. Sure!, with whom he is duetting and who functions as a sort of proxy for Iman in the song—will not kill him. Then he admits he sometimes wonders why she won’t, given white people’s appalling racism and mistreatment of black people through the centuries.

Of course, the reason Iman won’t kill him is because she loves him. And as James Baldwin assures us in The Fire Next Time , one of the wisest polemics ever written, “Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”

The book, which is in two parts, had its roots in a letter to Baldwin’s nephew on the centenary of black America’s “emancipation.” The elegance of Baldwin’s sentences, with their teeming subclauses and rich biblical cadences, is a function of anger, the same anger that energized the LA rioters. It is also a desperate need to cancel out the real white noise—the spurious national mythology white people invoke to convince themselves that their ancestors were wise, fair-minded heroes who always treated their neighbors and ethnic minority populations honorably.

Baldwin has news for his nephew: it’s not for white people to decide it’s within their gift to accept him. Nor should he try to impersonate them in any way or be tempted to believe that he is what the white world thinks he is—inferior. Why should black people have respect for the standards by which white people claim to live when it’s clear those standards are illusory?

He sounds implacable. Yet Baldwin, like Bowie, believes that the future has to be postracial. Hybrid. Tolerant. There can be no frisson of shock, no disapproval on either side, when it comes to interracial marriage and mixed-race children. When, in the book, Baldwin meets with Elijah Muhammad of the separatist Nation of Islam, he understands the doctrine of black self-sufficiency and self-respect Muhammad preaches but is suspicious of the groupthink he inspires in his followers. Baldwin has white friends he would trust with his life. Can he set this fact against the historic evilness of white people? Muhammad would say no. But for Baldwin there is no other way forward.

There is an invented aspect to racial difference, Baldwin felt. Which is how it becomes a tool of oppression: “Color is not a human or a personal reality. It is a political reality.” Views like this set him apart from the radical black movements of the late 60s and early 70s, some of whose followers and leaders—Eldridge Cleaver, for example—saw Baldwin’s homosexuality as deeply suspect, even treasonous. Baldwin had no wish to be typecast, or to be a spokesman—hence his move to France at the age of 24.

Plenty of the books on Bowie’s list are thrilling, fun, or informative. Many of them are important. The Fire Next Time is essential.

Read it while listening to : “Black Tie, White Noise”

If you like this, try: James Baldwin, Another Country

———————————————

From Bowie’s Bookshelf: The Hundred Books that Changed David Bowie’s Life by John O’Connell. Copyright © 2019 by John O’Connell. Reprinted by permission of Gallery Books, An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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David Bowie: 30 things you need to know about the late rock icon

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David Bowie's life was wild and weird, dark and beautiful, and his genius so diverse that it's impossible to catalogue his output, never mind his legacy or his influence.

His is exactly the kind of life that offers up millions of anecdotes, stories, memories and facts. Musician, actor, producer, artist, writer, performer — Bowie was endless, a giant. His passing on Jan. 10 at the relatively young age of 69 seems impossible and unfathomable.

There's no real way to adequately quantify an artist like David Bowie, so instead we dug deep into the archives, reading old interviews and unearthing cool facts and fascinating tidbits from his life. It's a list that could have gone on forever. Instead, consider this is a kaleidoscope overview of 30 things you need to know about David Bowie.

1. By 1970, Bowie had already written 137 songs .

"I've always written all my own songs. I've had 137 published so far and my latest L.P. is all my own. I also did another one years ago when I was the first singer to record an L.P. before doing a single. My stage act consists entirely of my own material, apart from one or two songs that I like very much — 'Port of Amsterdam' by Jacques Brel and 'Buzz the Fuzz' by Biff Rose."

2. Bowie spent years studying under Lindsay Kemp, " Britain's leading exponent of mime ."

"I taught him to exaggerate with his body a well as his voice, and the importance of looking as well as sounding beautiful. Ever since working with me he's practise that, and in each performance he does, his movements are more exquisite.

The mime uses gestures to convey his inner beauty; it's his natural way of doing it, and the only way he can do it marvellously. Bowie does that with his voice, so his gestures aren't truly those of a mime. But he has learned to free his body, and he now dances constantly. This is what I endeavour to teach everyone who studies with me — to free what is already there. Everybody has that dove flying around inside them, and to let it fly is a fabulous experience. That's why Isadora Duncan danced, and Pavlova danced — because they loved the moment when they actually became swans, not just impersonating them as actors do. Pavlova actually became a swan, and had a great time while she was up there. And so am I."

3. David Bowie and Elvis Presley were born 12 years apart, but they shared the same birthday, Jan. 8.

Bowie was asked about this confluence of events a lot in his lifetime. Our favourite Elvis/Bowie quote is from Interview magazine : "At no point did I ever doubt I would be as near as anybody could be to England's Elvis Presley. Even from eight or nine years old, I thought, 'Well, I'll be the greatest rock star in England.' I just made up my mind."

4. Vince Taylor, or "the French Presley", was the inspiration for Bowie's creation, Ziggy Stardust.

"He always stayed in my mind as an example of what can happen in rock 'n' roll.... And so he re-emerged in this Ziggy Stardust character," Bowie said in an interview with Q Magazine .

5. Bowie loved a good public library.

In a 2004 interview with Sean Moeller (future founder of the Daytrotter sessions), Bowie recalled flying to New York City to see Presley at Madison Square Garden — a fact Bowie had confirmed for himself by reading the New York Public Library desk reference fourth edition. Here's part of their conversation:

Q: What kinds of things are you getting from that [the New York Public Library desk reference fourth edition]?

A: Dumb things. I just found out what day I went to see Elvis Presley in 1972. They have the calendars from which you can look up any year and found out what any date was. So I now know that I flew over to see Presley on Friday, June the 9th, 1972. I knew it was in June sometime and I kind of knew that he was on around the 9th or 10th at Madison Square Garden and I didn't know which day I'd gone.

I had a gig on the Thursday night at the Polytechnic in Middlesbrough so I dashed down to London that night after the gig, got on the plane early in the morning, just made the concert - I got in late to the concert and he was already doing "Proud Mary." Then that night I had a quick sleep and got up early, early the next morning and got on a flight back to London and played a gig the next night. So I literally saw him between gigs. I absolutely had to see him before anything happened to him. He was pretty good at that time. He was still in pretty great shape and it wasn't that long after the black leather show that was on television.

6. A childhood scrap left him permanently injured.

His left pupil was permanently dilated after George Underwood punched him in the eye over a girl.

7. Bowie considered himself a "prop" for his songs .

"I want to make myself a vehicle, a prop for my songs. I've always been aware of how the actor must clothe himself for the role he is portraying."

8. Bowie's " number one idol " was Little Richard.

"He was pretty much the main man for me. I think it was his sax lineup. I just loved the saxophones in that band. I just felt that that was the group I was going to join when I grew up because I was like nine when he happened in Britain. I just wanted to be a part of that sax lineup." [Bowie began playing the saxophone at the age of nine.]

9. He never whistled in theatre dressing rooms .

"That's something you're told not to do as soon as you start in the theatre — but that's more of a habit. I'm not superstitious about it or anything else."

10. In 1975, Bowie declared that rock was "a boring dead end" and that he was over it.

"There will be no more rock 'n' roll records or tours from me. The last thing I want to be is some useless f--king rock singer." But as Playboy notes in its 1976 feature interview , Bowie's declaration was a tad premature: later that year, he released Station to Station , which Playboy called a new album of "double-fisted rock 'n' roll."

11. In 1976, Bowie told Cameron Crowe, via Playboy, about how he staved off boredom: lying.

"I lie. It's quite easy to do. Nothing matters except whatever it is I'm doing at the moment. I can't keep track of everything I say. I don't give a shit. I can't even remember how much I believe and how much I don't believe. The point is to grow into the person you grow into. I haven't a clue where I'm gonna be in a year. A raving nut, a flower child or a dictator, some kind of reverend — I don't know. That's what keeps me from getting bored."

12. Corinne "Coco" Schwab, Bowie's longtime personal assistant, best friend and also, allegedly, an ex-lover.

He told rock journalist Lesley-Anne Jones that in the mid-'70s Schwab became the most important person in his life. "My whole lifestyle at that time made me quite bonkers, and I had a complete breakdown. Coco was the one person who told me what a fool I was becoming and she made me snap out of it."

13. He wrote his 1987 song, "Never Let Me Down", about Schwab.

"'Never Let Me Down' is a pivotal track for me. It's probably the most personal thing I've written for ... albums. I don't know if I've written anything quite that emotive of how I feel about somebody. Other tracks I think are too schematic to ... a lot of them are allegorical and I just wanted to sort of right on the nose."

14. Bowie's changeling ability confounded many, maybe even the man himself, but eventually he settled into his own skin — or so he thought.

In 1983, Jones interviewed Bowie again. This is her recollection :

"The spangled, half-strangled, androgynous weirdo who had vanished from the scene five years earlier had metamorphosed into an athlete filming an ad for breakfast cereal. He was barely recognisable: cool, elegant, clean-cut, his hair baby-blond to offset a classy light suit. Instead of the tombstone bits and pieces, he now flashed perfect teeth.

'I was tired of the idea of being a freakish cult figure,' he told me. 'I wanted to do something more accessible, more soulful, a bit more R&B, and I've been overwhelmed by the response. I certainly didn't expect this much limelight. It's a joy to me. I have never performed like this before in my life. I feel so much more relaxed, now that I'm not carting some character around with me any longer. At long last, I think I have learned how to be myself.'"

15. In 1995, though, Bowie had a different recollection about his "Let's Dance" era.

"I went mainstream in a major way with the song 'Let's Dance'. I pandered to that in my next few albums, and what I found I had done was put a box around myself. It was very hard for people to see me as anything other than the person in the suit who did 'Let's Dance', and it was driving me mad — because it took all my passion for experimenting away."

16. He was an excellent talent scout.

Luther Vandross supplied the backing vocals on Bowie's 1975 album, Young Americans .

17. He was also willing to help out musicians he loved without making himself the star of the show.

Bowie did the handclaps on T-Rex's "Debora".

18. Bowie was not BFFs with Andy Warhol.

Though Bowie had played Andy Warhol himself in Julian Schnabel's 1996 film, Basquiat , Bowie didn't mince words about the famed artist's legacy in a 2002 interview :

"I'm not sure that there's such a thing as a fond memory of Andy Warhol. He was a strange fish. Even people who say they knew him well, I don't think they did. I certainly didn't know him well."

19. Bowie was a boxing fan .

"I quite like boxing — but that's only because I use it as a training method. Just recently I've started again. You look at yourself and think [pats stomach] that could go. And boxing's not as boring as pumping bleedin' metal all day, which bores the shit out of me."

20. David Bowie starred in the 1980 Broadway production of The Elephant Man .

The New York Times' John Corry called him "splendid."

21. He helped christen a new stadium in Vancouver, B.C.

Bowie performed the first rock concert at Vancouver's BC Place in 1983 , a few weeks following its grand opening, for a crowd of more than 50,000 fans.

22. In 1983, Bowie challenged MTV about the racism in its music video rotation .

Bowie: Why are there practically no blacks on the network?

Mark Goodman: We seem to be doing music that fits into what we want to play on MTV. The company is thinking in terms of narrow-casting.

Bowie: There seem to be a lot of black artists making very good videos that I'm surprised aren't being used on MTV.

Goodman: We have to try and do what we think not only New York and Los Angeles will appreciate, but also Poughkeepsie or the Midwest. Pick some town in the Midwest which would be scared to death by... a string of other black faces or black music. We have to play music we think an entire country is going to like, and certainly we're a rock and roll station.

Bowie: Don't you think it's a frightening predicament to be in?

Goodman: Yeah, but not less so here than in radio.

Bowie: Don't say, 'Well, it's not me, it's them.' Is it not possible it should be a conviction of the station and of the radio stations to be fair...to make the media more integrated?

23. Bowie also brought some attention to Quebec.

He recorded his 1984 album, Tonight , in Quebec's famed Le Studio.

24. Bowie first collaborated with Montreal dancers La La La Human Steps in 1988.

From CBC Montreal : Édouard Lock, the group's founder, said Bowie made decisions based on the "adventures he wanted to live.... He made society run after himself rather than him trying to see how to best fit into the mores of the time."

25. Bowie participated in a three-day 1987 concert in Berlin, which may have helped change history .

The German Foreign Office tweeted this memorial for Bowie with a link to the video of his performance of "Heroes", which has since been removed from YouTube. 

Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Heroes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Heroes</a>. Thank you for helping to bring down the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wall?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wall</a>. <a href="https://t.co/soaOUWiyVl">https://t.co/soaOUWiyVl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RIPDavidBowie?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RIPDavidBowie</a> &mdash; @GermanyDiplo

26. He was immortalized in Hollywood almost 20 years before his death.

He received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997.

27. Bowie gave the 1999 commencement address at Berklee College of Music.

Bowie reflected on everything from John Lennon (he compares their behaviour together to that of Beavis and Butthead on Crossfire ) to Shirley Bassey, but it's this excerpt that resonates the mostly deeply.

"Music has given me over 40 years of extraordinary experiences. I can't say that life's pains or more tragic episodes have been diminished because of it. But it's allowed me so many moments of companionship when I've been lonely and a sublime means of communication when I wanted to touch people. It's been both my doorway of perception and the house that I live in."

Read the speech in its entirety .

28. He wasn't just a visionary artist — he literally became art.

Bowie's life and art were catalogued in David Bowie Is , an incredible museum exhibit that originated at the Victoria and Albert Museum and travelled to Toronto's AGO in 2013. It was an overview of his entire creative life, but it also offered up fascinating insights into his less public self, including this 1978 self-portrait.

29. Bowie rejected most low brow and high brow differentiators.

He voiced the character Lord Royal Highness in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie .

30. He believed that creativity was, essentially, priceless.

In 2013, Bowie made his "Love is Lost" music video for just $12.99 — and a little help from his friends, plus a few creepy/cool puppets from his archives.

Hang out with me on Twitter: @_AndreaWarner

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David Bowie

David Bowie's 20 greatest ever songs, ranked

11 January 2023, 09:23

By Tom Eames

David Bowie was one of the world's most celebrated and talented artists of all time, from his Ziggy Stardust persona to his Berlin Trilogy of albums to his Labyrinth mid-80s pomp.

He was a true one-off and perfectly made music from various genres, from glam rock to jazz-funk to minimalist electronica.

We've picked 20 of his greatest-ever songs to make for a perfect David Bowie playlist. Is your favourite in there?

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'Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy' (with Bing Crosby)

Bing Crosby, David Bowie - Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy

This song was an early form of a mash-up of sorts, featuring the 1941 Christmas song ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ and the new composition ‘Peace on Earth’.

David Bowie performed the song with Bing Crosby for the latter’s 1977 TV special, filmed just five weeks before his death. The song was preceded by a short skit in which the pair exchanged scripted dialogue about what they each do for their family Christmases.

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Bowie admitted to having only appeared on the show because “I just knew my mother liked him”.

'Rebel Rebel'

David Bowie - Rebel Rebel • TopPop

The lead single from Diamond Dogs , this song is based around a distinctive guitar riff similar to that of the Rolling Stones.

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Listed as his most-covered track, it has also been described as Bowie's farewell to the glam rock movement that he had helped create.

'Fashion'

David Bowie - Fashion (Official Video)

Released in 1980 and featuring a lavish music video, Bowie said that the song was a way to "move on a little from that Ray Davies concept of fashion, to suggest more of a gritted teeth determination and an unsureness about why one's doing it".

Biographer David Buckley believed the song "poked fun at the banality of the dance floor and the style fascists" of the New Romantic movement.

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'Absolute Beginners'

David Bowie - Absolute Beginners (Official Video)

This was the theme song to the 1986 film of the same name, starring David Bowie .

Although the film was not a success, the song was a big hit, and reached number two in the UK.

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'The Jean Genie'

David Bowie – The Jean Genie (Official Video)

According to Bowie, this song from Aladdin Sane was "a smorgasbord of imagined Americana", with the song's character inspired by Iggy Pop, and the title alluding to author Jean Genet.

One of Bowie's most famous tracks, it was promoted with a film featuring Andy Warhol associate Cyrinda Foxe, and peaked at number two in the UK.

'Underground'

David Bowie - Underground (Official Video)

David Bowie wrote the lyrics for the main theme of Jim Henson’s 1986 movie Labyrinth . There are two versions of the song: a shorter one which opens the movie, with the music coming from the film’s composer Trevor Jones.

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Bowie also recorded a longer, poppier version for the film’s end credits, which came out as a single in some countries in late 1986.

'Lazarus'

David Bowie - Lazarus (Video)

This song, complete with a powerful and poignant music video, was the final single released in Bowie's lifetime, taken from his final album Blackstar .

According to Bowie's producer Tony Visconti, the lyrics and video of the song, and other songs on the album, were intended to be a self-epitaph and a commentary on Bowie's own impending death.

'Golden Years'

David Bowie Golden Years (Official Video)

This was the lead single from Bowie's Station to Station album in 1975.

The track was supposedly written for Elvis Presley to cover, who turned it down. Bowie said that he had "adored" Presley and would have loved to work with him.

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Although the artists' offices contacted each other, nothing came of it. Presley sent a note to Bowie saying: 'All the best, and have a great tour'. Bowie kept the note for the rest of his life.

'China Girl'

David Bowie - China Girl (Official Video)

Written by Bowie with Iggy Pop, this was first recorded by the latter in 1977, but it was Bowie's 1983 version that became more famous.

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Produced by Nile Rodgers , the song was inspired by Iggy Pop's infatuation with Kuelan Nguyen, a Vietnamese woman, as a metaphor for his Stooges career.

'As the World Falls Down'

David Bowie - As The World Falls Down (Official Video)

David Bowie wrote this underrated ballad for the movie Labyrinth , in which he starred as Goblin King Jareth.

The song appears when Sarah has a dream where Jareth appears at a masquerade ball and proclaims his love for her. There were initially plans to release the song as a single, but it was scrapped.

'Sound and Vision'

David Bowie - Sound And Vision • TopPop

Co-produced by Tony Visconti, David Bowie originally recorded this track as an instrumental, bar the backing vocal (performed by Visconti’s wife, Mary Hopkin).

Bowie then recorded his vocal after the rest of the band had left the studio, before trimming verses off the lyrics, and leaving a relatively lengthy instrumental intro on the finished song.

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'Changes'

David Bowie - Changes (Live, 1973)

This song from Hunky Dory has been seen as a manifesto for Bowie's chameleonic personality and the frequent changes of the world around him.

It has been cited as Bowie's official US debut, and was the last song Bowie performed live on stage before his retirement from live performances in 2006.

'Ziggy Stardust'

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust - live 1972 (rare footage / 2016 edit)

Taken from Bowie's concept album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , this song is about Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings.

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This song is the centrepiece of the album, presenting the rise and fall of Ziggy. A glam rock classic, it was based around a guitar riff from band member Mick Ronson.

'Ashes to Ashes'

David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes (Official Video)

This track revisits David Bowie’s Major Tom character from 1969’s ‘Space Oddity’ in a darker theme, which he referenced once again in 1995 with ‘Hallo Spaceboy’.

He described the song as “wrapping up the seventies really” for himself, which “seemed a good enough epitaph for it”.

Its music video cost £250,000, making it the most expensive ever at the time. He later said: “It really is an ode to childhood, if you like, a popular nursery rhyme. It’s about space men becoming junkies.”

'Starman'

David Bowie - Starman (Top Of The Pops, 1972)

This was the lead single from Bowie's iconic Ziggy Stardust album, this was a last-minute addition to the LP. It was also the moment Bowie made glam more than just flare trousers and platform shoes.

The lyrics describe Ziggy bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio. The story is told from the point of view of one of the youths who hears Ziggy for the first time.

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According to Bowie, Ziggy is not the Starman but merely his earthly messenger.

'Space Oddity'

David Bowie – Space Oddity (Official Video)

This track is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut, and was released during a period of great interest in space flight.

The United States’ Apollo 11 mission would launch five days later. The lyrics have also been seen to lampoon the British space programme, which was and still is an unmanned project.

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David Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs ‘Ashes to Ashes’, ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ and possibly the music video for ‘Blackstar’. It reached number one in the UK when re-released in 1975.

'Under Pressure' (with Queen)

Queen - Under Pressure (Official Video)

Queen had been working on a song called ‘Feel Like’, but was not yet satisfied with the result. David Bowie had originally come to sing backup vocals on another song, but his vocals were removed because he also was not satisfied.

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The final version of the song, evolved from a jam session that Bowie had with the band. Brian May later said: “It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. Looking back, it’s a great song but it should have been mixed differently.”

'Let's Dance'

David Bowie - Let's Dance (Official Video)

In 1982, Nile Rodgers met David Bowie in the New York club Continental, where the two shared a conversation about their musical interests. Bowie later invited Rodgers to his house in Switzerland, which Rodgers assumed was an audition.

The pair then worked together on this track and the album of the same name, giving Bowie one of the biggest hits of his career.

'Life on Mars?'

David Bowie – Life On Mars? (Official Video)

In 1968, David Bowie wrote ‘Even a Fool Learns to Love’, set to the music of ‘Comme d’habitude’, by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. Bowie’s version was never released, but Paul Anka bought the rights to the French version and rewrote it as ‘My Way’.

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The success of the song prompted Bowie to write this as a parody of Frank Sinatra’s recording. With Rick Wakeman on piano, the song was the backdrop for BBC TV drama Life on Mars , which used both the name and the song itself as its basis.

'Heroes'

David Bowie - Heroes (Official Video)

While not a huge hit at the time, it went on to become one of Bowie's signature songs.

Inspired by the sight of Bowie's producer Tony Visconti embracing his lover by the Berlin Wall, the song tells the story of two lovers, one from East and one from West Berlin.

His performance of 'Heroes' on June 6, 1987, at the German Reichstag in West Berlin, has been considered a catalyst to the fall of the Berlin Wall. After his death in 2016, the German government thanked Bowie for "helping to bring down the Wall".

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David Bowie’s earliest years – as told by the people who knew him best

To mark the new film ‘David Bowie: Finding Fame’, Andrew Trendell goes in search of the young man behind the myth, with the help of the friends, loved ones and collaborators who knew him before he became Ziggy Stardust.

“I’m an instant star – just add water and stir,” David Bowie  said in 1975. And while it was a brilliant soundbite, it was, in truth, far from correct.

The influence of Bowie’s art and music on the very fabric of 21st century pop culture is inestimable. But, encouragingly, for those of us yet to change the world, his legend is preceded by a history of failure, reinvention, and determination.

Following the documentary film  Five Years in 2013 , which told the story of Bowie’s transition from the Ziggy Stardust era to and his 1980s stadium pop years via arty exile in Berlin, and 2017’s  The Last Five Years,  which documented his later records, up to ‘Blackstar’, new film Finding Fame  completes the trilogy. Again, director Francis Whately uses Bowie’s own words, archive footage and testimony from friends, loved ones and colleagues, this time to paint a portrait of your favourite alien’s very human beginnings.

We spoke to those close to Bowie in his pre-fame years to learn how family, frustration and failure would shape the icon we know today.

“I was in bits – I thought I’d blinded him”

Bowie’s first record was 1964’s ‘Liza Jane’, released under his real name, David Jones, with his band The King Bees, which also featured childhood friend George Underwood. The King Bees were a flop, but Underwood had already played his role in Bowie mythology: it was he who had given him those mismatched, alien eyes.

Having met enrolling for the five-a-side football Bromley Cup when they were both nine years old, Underwood remembers David as a “confident kid” who was “ahead of the game in terms of his tastes and talents”. “We were into anything American or alternative,” he tells NME . “In those times, rock n’ roll was just around the corner and we wanted to be part of that.”

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In 1962, they both took a liking to a girl named Carol. A cocksure David sabotaged a date that George had set up with her – lying that she had a change of heart, while in truth she waited for him outside a youth club – so Bowie could swoop in himself.

“He put me right in it, and I thought, ‘You bastard!’” laughs Underwood. After a night of “seething”, George overheard David bragging about his conquest on a bus, and then snapped. “It wasn’t really my style, but I just walked up to him and hit him.”

“In those times, rock n’ roll was just around the corner and we wanted to be part of that,” – George Underwood, childhood friend and the man who gave him ‘the eye’

“A week later, I came home and my dad says to me, ‘You never told me you hit David Jones… I’ve had his dad on the phone, he’s been rushed to Moorfields Eye Hospital and he might lose the sight in one eye’.”

“I was in bits, it was horrible. I went to hospital to see him and cried my eyes out in front of his dad, but it all ended up alright in the end, didn’t it?”

A permanently-dilated pupil gave Bowie those extraterrestrial, Ziggy Stardust eyes.

“He later said I did him a favour,” says Underwood in the understatement of the century.

George became a celebrated artist in his own right, and along with writer and singer Geoff McCormack (aka Warren Peace), the trio remained firm friends until the end of Bowie’s life.

“No personality… not particularly exciting”

An unearthed rejection letter from the BBC after he auditioned with The Lower Third in 1965 in Finding Fame describes Bowie as having “quite a different sound” but with “no personality”, and “not particularly exciting” and certain to “not improve with practice”. Ouch.

Whether with The Lower Third, The Konrads, The King Bees, The Manish Boys, The Riot Squad, The Buzz or his earliest solo dalliances, Bowie spent years being knocked back and ignored, but was forever driven to just be noticed, an urge he’d had since he was an infant.

“It wasn’t a particularly happy childhood,” says Bowie over early childhood scenes of South London in the new film. “My parents were cold emotionally. There weren’t many hugs. I always craved affection because of that.”

“He was incredibly resilient, and you see that in those early years – that ability to get up off the floor when something goes wrong,” director Francis Whately tells NME . “It made him stand out. When he had knocks, he had the ability to see them for what they were, which was just a phase. They may have freaked out anyone who hadn’t experienced quite so much disappointment in their early lives.”

Finding Fame does show a closeness between Bowie and his cousin Kristina Amadeus, as well as his older half-brother Terry Burns, who first introduced him to jazz. Sadly, Terry was diagnosed with schizophrenia when David was growing up and would spend his life in psychiatric hospitals before taking his own life in 1985. It profoundly impacted David, and mental health would be a subject would revisit in his work (most explicitly on 1993 single ‘Jump They Say’). Being away from Terry only added to David’s isolation and desire to escape.

“I would go round to see him in Bromley,” his former girlfriend the actress and singer-songwriter Dana Gillespie tells NME . “He would come and pick me up from school. He was quite unusual-looking when I first met him, with his long yellow hair. It sounds silly now, but nobody had hair that length. My father originally thought he was a girl!”

“Once when I went round to his place he said, ‘I want to get out of here, I will do whatever it takes’,” – Dana Gillespie, actor and former girlfriend

She continues: “I was only 14 or 15 and I hadn’t ever been to the home of a working class family before, so that was a bit of an eye-opener. It took my breath away to go into such a cold house. Once when I went round to his place he said, ‘I want to get out of here, I will do whatever it takes’.”

Doing ‘whatever it took’  involved a pair of Marigolds. Yes, ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ would scrub floors while awaiting the call for auditions.

“One of his friends in The Riot Squad told us that David would come in, be very nice to his parents, and help his mum with the washing up,” says Whately. “Can you imagine David Bowie doing the washing up? In fact, David Bowie was actually doing cleaning jobs in the ‘60s to support himself, which not a lot of people know.”

‘Letter To Hermione’ – Bowie’s first love

Bowie’s brief flirtation with cleaning toilets came while he was living with his first true love, dancer Hermione Farthingale. They met when they were both cast in a play by Bowie’s mime mentor and once boyfriend Lindsay Kemp in 1967. Forever pushing each other creatively, they teamed up  with guitarist John “Hutch” Hutchinson to form Feathers; a troupe performing music, art, poetry and dance that laid out the embryonic vision for the mixed media experimentation that Bowie embodied from ‘Ziggy’ onwards. They split two years later so she could move abroad to star in the film Song Of Norway.  In Finding Fame , she speaks on camera about David and their defining relationship for the first time.

“We were soulmates, and we missed each other as friends. That was a short way of saying that we missed each other in every way.” – Hermione Farthingale, muse and former girlfriend

“It is a proper love story,” says Whately. “It’s very affecting seeing her on screen all these years later, and realising what she had meant to him. It was a late adolescent love affair, which we’ve all had and it breaks us up. To see that first true love is something extraordinary in someone we now see as an icon. He was a mortal, and he had a mortal love for an amazing woman.”

When they parted, it cut Bowie deep. He included ‘Letter To Hermione’ and ‘An Occasional Dream’, both about their split, on his 1969 self-titled album, as well as honouring her as “ the girl with the mousey hair”  in ‘Life On Mars’ on 1971’s ‘Hunky Dory’. Later, he paid tribute to Hermione by wearing a Song Of Norway t-shirt in the 2013 comeback video for ‘Where Are We Now?’. As Francis puts it, “She remained a beacon for David throughout his entire life, and I think we should celebrate that”.

Speaking in London ahead of a screening of the film, Hermione told NME : “We were soulmates, and we missed each other as friends. That was a short way of saying that we missed each other in every way. We felt lonely when we weren’t together. It was completely mutual.”

And how did she react to her first hearing of ‘Letter To Hermione’?

“It was a year later when I first heard it,” she replies. “He married Angie [model and wife from 1970-1980] three weeks later. It wasn’t a letter with a stamp on it that demanded an answer, it was rhetorical by that point.

“Everything David writes has extraordinary acuity and precision. He puts things absolutely beautifully and spot on, so for that I appreciate it.”

A one-hit wonder

While it largely failed to dent the mainstream, Bowie’s knack for vivid storytelling and pushing the envelope of what a song can do is clearly evident on his early work. Taking in American art-rock, 1960’s folk balladry and a whole lot of cockney theatricality inspired by ’60s screen icon Anthony Newley, the DNA of the icon we know now was all there, bubbling under the surface.

‘When I’m Five’ shows a stargazing sense of wonder, ‘The London Boys’ (later brilliantly modernised in 2000 for the album ‘Toy’) takes the life he knew and spins it into a soulful anthem of kitchen sink melodrama and escapism, and ‘She’s Got Medals’ questioned gender norms in telling the story of a woman who becomes and a man and then a woman again while in the army.

Of course, the only song at the time to truly connect to the masses was 1969’s ‘Space Oddity’. Pandering to the space-race hysteria of the time as well as detailing Bowie’s own anxieties around isolation, it would become his first Number One single. Sadly, it seemed like a one-off for a while – it was another three years until Bowie became his alter-ego of Ziggy Stardust and bothered the mainstream again. Still, his taste for stardom accelerated his chameleon tendencies.

“I think that the early years are very similar to the later years,” says Whately. “All that he’s doing is changing character, changing styles, changing roles – just as he always did. You see David the R n’ B man, you see David the jazz man, you see David with the acoustic guitar, the heavy metal man on ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. None of it succeeds though, not even ‘Hunky Dory’, until Ziggy happens. He’s going through all of these different phases and trying to see what works.”

“He was able to pick himself and go back to what he did best; that was listening to no one and making art. It was when he started trying to please his fans that he stumbled,” – Francis Whately, director

It’s said that comfort kills creation, and it was a mantra that David Bowie lived by.

“I don’t consider any of it to be failure,” says Dana Gillespie. “David just had to keep going until eventually somebody got it. He wasn’t going to just stop and get a job in shop for Christ’s sake. For me, it seemed quite normal to see him carry on. If some pillock didn’t understand why he was looking a bit odd and writing songs that were a little off-the-wall, that was their problem, not his.”

“It’s great that he didn’t have a major hit when he was very young because I feel sorry for anyone who does. How else are you going to learn your craft?”

Ziggy emerges

By dressing up as superheroes to form The Hype in 1970 with a line-up that would later shift and morph into The Spiders From Mars, David had first taste of assuming another character. He decamped to Haddon Hall in Beckenham for a long Bohemian retreat. Here, alongside lavish and raucous parties, Bowie would write endlessly, wear his “man-dress” for the cover of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, sit with Angie for the first Ziggy outfit to be stitched together, and his vision for a rock revolution took shape.

“I was doing a show, so I’d mostly go down to Haddon Hall at weekends and hang out until Monday,” Dana recalls. “There was this huge baronial hall with different members of the Spiders sleeping around, with David and Angie in the one big bedroom. There was a cooker the size of a postage stamp, but you’d give Angie a carrot and a potato and she’d make food for everyone.

“She was always organised and made sure that Bowie could sit in the bedroom with his guitar. He was very busy all the time composing. It was a very pleasant hanging out existence.”

It was during this period, that Bowie would make his way to Glastonbury for that now sacred 1971 set at 5.30am. “It was the first year of the Pyramid and everyone apart from David was on acid,” says Dana. “I was off somewhere watching it. We didn’t have a tent and everyone just hung out because we never knew when David would get on the stage.”

Did it feel historic?

“No, because we didn’t know what it was going to grow into. It just seemed like a wonderful idea. It was so disorganised and everyone was just having a good time.”

Still, history followed. Finding Fame ends with the creation and death of Ziggy Stardust, when Bowie announced his demise at the peak of his fame at the Hammersmith Odeon in July 1973. You know the story from there, but don’t let the importance of the path before then ever be lost.

“I think you can most evidence of all of the mistakes and failures from the ‘60s played out on later albums in one way or another,” concludes Whately.

“We have to remember that in the ‘90s, David was not the superstar that he was in the ‘70s or that he is today, but he was able to pick himself and go back to what he did best; that was listening to no one and making art. It was when he started trying to please his fans that he stumbled.”

From a young age until his death, Bowie was always itching to move onto the next thing. Never content, he was a one-off – just like that lucky punch George Underwood landed back in ‘62. George assures us he isn’t a violent man and never punched anyone before or since. “It’ll be on my bloody gravestone if I’m not careful,” he laughs. “Actually, I’ve changed the ending to that. Instead of hitting him, let’s say I went up to him and threw a bag of stardust in his face. How’s that?”

David Bowie: Finding Fame premieres at 9pm on BBC Two on Saturday February 9.

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Readers’ Poll: The Best David Bowie Albums

By Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

This is hardly a revelatory statement, but David Bowie had a very good 1970s. Fueled by a heroic intake of drugs, the man worked like a machine and churned out masterpiece after masterpiece, pausing only to tour, produce amazing albums for other people and to ingest yet more drugs. This didn't do much for his physical or mental health (at one point he thought his TV was talking to him), but it did produce some of the greatest albums in rock history. We asked our readers to vote on their favorite Bowie albums, and the top 10 were all released between 1970 and 1980. Only Lodger failed to make the cut. Click through to see the results. 

10. ‘The Man Who Sold the World’

The Man Who Sold The World arrived on store shelves during a bizarre time in Bowie's career. After years of failed efforts, he'd finally scored a hit the previous year with "Space Oddity." His subsequent singles, however, failed to generate any heat, and it seemed like he might be a One Hit Wonder. Always one to know how to get attention, Bowie decided to wear a dress on the cover of his third album, The Man Who Sold The World . This was long, long before the days of Boy George, back when such a move was still shocking. He wore the gown to his first interview with Rolling Stone in early 1971. "I refuse to be thought of as mediocre," Bowie said. "If I am mediocre, I'll get out of the business. There's enough fog around. That's why the idea of performance-as-spectacle is so important to me . . . Tell your readers that they can make up their minds about me when I begin getting adverse publicity: when I'm found in bed with Raquel Welch's husband." The entire interview was conducted in the gown.

Despite his best efforts, the LP didn't make much of a commercial impact. When his career exploded about three years later with Ziggy Stardust , fans went back and discovered this album, and now "The Man Who Sold the World," "The Width of a Circle" and "The Supermen" are all classics. 

9. ‘Young Americans’

It would have been very easy for David Bowie to squeeze out glam albums like Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane for years and years, but he knew to be a truly great artist he had to challenge his fans and move into different areas. With that in mind, he put all of his past music aside and started work on a Philly R&B style album. A young soul singer named Luther Vandross was taped for background vocals, and his new friend John Lennon helped Bowie write "Fame." The result was Young Americans . Some old fans were turned off, but the huge radio hits "Fame" and "Young Americans" introduced him to a whole new audience. 

8. ‘Heroes’

Heroes is the second album of Bowie's so-called "Berlin Trilogy," but it's actually the only album totally recorded at Hansa Studio in Berlin. After taking the experimentation pretty far with Low , Bowie decided it was time for a slightly more traditional pop record. Recorded almost within spitting distance of the Berlin Wall, the LP fuses Krautrock with the ambient sounds he'd been perfecting over the past couple of years. The title track, about lovers on different sides of the Berlin Wall, became one of the biggest hits of Bowie's career and helped the LP climb the charts all across the planet. 

7. ‘Scary Monsters’

Bowie's 1980 album Scary Monsters is so incredible that for the next 20 years countless rock critics said that whatever new album he put out was "his best since Scary Monsters ." In some small ways, this is the fourth album of the "Berlin Trilogy," even though it was recorded entirely in New York and London. Once again, Bowie was working with Tony Visconti on music that was both commercial and highly artistic. This time he leaned more on the former, and scored hits with "Fashion" and the "Space Oddity" sequel "Ashes to Ashes." There really isn't a weak track on the album, proving that Bowie was almost unique among Seventies rock icons in his ability to stay relevant after the punk revolution. He made many great songs after this, but never again was any album this satisfying from start to finish. 

6. ‘Aladdin Sane’

The pressure was truly on David Bowie when he went into the studio in late 1972 to begin recording Aladdin Sane . Kids all across American has played Ziggy Stardust until the vinyl was worn down, and they wanted something new. Written during his first American tour, Bow labeled this album "Ziggy Goes to America." It was a worthy follow-up, and "The Jean Genie," "Panic in Detroit" and "Cracked Actor" all became instant Bowie classics. More important, it proved Bowie wasn't a One-Album Wonder. 

5. ‘Diamond Dogs’

David Bowie was halfway through writing a concept album about George Orwell's classic novel 1984 when he ran into a tiny snag: Orwell's estate denied him the rights to the book. Rather than start from scratch, Bowie opted to put some of the songs on a more traditional glam rock album. Diamond Dogs is a farewell to the already fading glam scene. On the cover, Bowie still has his Ziggy hair, but he's already morphing into some other creature. This was his first album after parting ways with the Spiders from Mars backing band, and the beginning of his long association with Earl Slick. "Rebel Rebel" was the only real hit from the album, though it never went higher than number 64 in America. 

4. ‘Low’

Many Bowie fans didn't quite know what to make of Low when it first appeared in January of 1977. "Sound and Vision" and "Be My Wife" were the only songs that even sounded somewhat like pop music, and the second side was filled with instrumentals. Clearly, Bowie wasn't aiming for the pop charts with this one. Instead, he took the experiments from Station to Station to a new level. The disc was produced by Tony Visconti, but Brian Eno played a large role in shaping the unique sound of the disc. While many of his peers were totally ignoring new music, Bowie was immersing himself in Krautrock and discovering entirely new ways to express himself. Low was underappreciated at the time, but now it's widely seen as a masterpiece. 

3. ‘Station to Station’

It's possible to do so much cocaine over a long period of time that you enter into a state of "cocaine psychosis," meaning you suffer from intense paranoia and memory failure. That explains why David Bowie claims to have no memory of recording Station to Station . He was doing shocking amounts of the drug, and not sleeping for days at a time. This disc was recorded largely long after midnight in a Los Angeles studio. E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan was sober, but most everyone else in the studio was high as a spaceship. This usually leads to horrible music, but by some miracle it produced some of the greatest songs of Bowie's career. On the epic title track Bowie even sings about the "side effects of the cocaine." It's 10 minutes and 15 seconds of absolute madness. You can almost smell the drugs when you listen to it. The disc wraps with a cover of "Wild Is the Wind," featuring some of the greatest singing of Bowie's career. This is a deeply weird album that just gets better with age. 

Note: don't try this at home. When Elton John and Oasis tried to record on this much cocaine, the results were absolutely dismal. Just listen to Leather Jackets and Be Here Now if you don't believe us. 

2. ‘Hunky Dory’

David Bowie began writing the music on Hunky Dory on his first visit to America in 1971. "The whole  Hunky Dory  album reflected my newfound enthusiasm for this new continent that had been opened up to me," Bowie said in 1999. "That was the first time a real outside situation affected me so 100 percent that it changed my way of writing and the way I look at things."

Traveling by bus from Washington, D.C., to California, Bowie fell in love with the country and was inspired to pen tributes to some of its most iconic artists ("Andy Warhol," "Song for Bob Dylan" and the Lou Reed tribute "Queen Bitch"). Inspired by folk-rock acts that were dominating the charts, Bowie began composing pretty acoustic tunes with surreal lyrics like "Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow," from "Life on Mars?" "When we were rehearsing songs for  Hunky Dory , David was playing by himself at folk clubs in London to, like, 50 people," says  Hunky Dory  bassist Trevor Bolder, who also played on Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane . "He had long hair and looked like a folkie."

On "Changes," which kicks off the album, Bowie offers a challenge to pop's reigning stars, singing, "Look out, you rock & rollers." "I guess it was more being sort of arrogant," Bowie said in 2002. "It's sort of baiting an audience, saying, 'Look, I'm going to be so fast you're not going to keep up with me.'" The album found a small audience, but flew up the charts later that year after the huge success of the follow-up, Ziggy Stardust . 

1. ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’

The world has just five years left and it seems like there is no hope, but suddenly an alien rock star named Ziggy Stardust enters the body of a man and offers us salvation in our dying days. Sadly, he "took it all too far" and wound up killing himself in a "Rock and Roll Suicide." It's a story that virtually nobody has ever bothered to follow, but that hardly matters. The songs on Ziggy Stardust represent the high point of the entire glam movement. Also, Bowie was reborn onstage as Ziggy Stardust, providing a much-needed rock star in an otherwise bleak music landscape. Even better, parents hated him. Bowie has had bigger hits and more acclaimed albums, but never in his career did he seem quite as important or refreshing. This is the Bowie album that will be in the history books. 

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David Bowie (1947-2016)

• Music Artist

IMDbPro Starmeter Top 5,000 698

• 20 wins & 35 nominations total

Celebrity Doppelgangers

• Thomas Jerome Newton

• David Bowie

• Phillip Jeffries

• Cyrus Ogilvie

• Lord Royal Highness (voice)

• Maltazard (English version, voice)

• David Bowie (uncredited)

• Julian Priest
• 22 episodes

• The Dreamers (voice)

• Jack Sikora

Personal details

• Apple Music
• Davy Jones & the King Bees
• 5′ 9¾″ (1.77 m)
• January 8 , 1947
• Brixton, London, England, UK
• January 10 , 2016
• Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (liver cancer)
• Spouses Iman April 24, 1992 - January 10, 2016 (his death, 1 child)
• Duncan Jones
• Parents Margaret Mary Jones
• Other works Single (UK #1): "Under Pressure" (recorded with Queen ).
• 12 Biographical Movies
• 15 Print Biographies
• 12 Portrayals
• 12 Interviews
• 72 Articles
• 14 Pictorials
• 63 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

• Trivia 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; in fact, Underwood designed artwork for him.
• Quotes [on whether he thinks he is a good actor] I took you in, didn't I? I rest my make-up case.
• Trademarks Sexual androgyny
• The Thin White Duke
• Ziggy Stardust
• The Picasso of Pop
• The Master of Reinvention
• The Chameleon of Rock
• Aladdin Sane
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The 10 Insane Stories From David Bowie’s Career

Photo Credit: esquire.com

David Bowie , the enigmatic rock star known for his otherworldly persona and musical innovations, had a career full of extraordinary and often surreal stories. Here are ten fascinating anecdotes from his life:

Bowie Formed His Own Band at 17 At just 17, David Jones, later known as David Bowie, formed his first band, Davie Jones and The King Bees. This early venture, which began with a song recorded in 1964, showcased his emerging rock style, drawing influences from contemporaries like The Kinks and Small Faces.

Little Rebel Bowie on British TV In 1964, Bowie made a memorable appearance on British television, introducing himself as the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men. In a serious tone, he highlighted the prejudice men with long hair faced, showcasing his early passion for social issues.

Bowie’s SpongeBob Cameo In 2007, David Bowie voiced “His Royal Highness” in the first SpongeBob movie, An Adventure in Atlantis. Bowie, a self-professed fan of the series, referred to it as “the Holy Grail of animated fiction,” adding a unique touch to the film.

The Revolutionary TV Appearance David Bowie’s 1972 performance of Ziggy Stardust on Top of the Pops is considered one of rock history’s most influential TV appearances. This groundbreaking moment, coupled with his collaboration with Mick Ronson, marked the rise of Glam rock and inspired countless bands.

The Original Space Oddity Video While the iconic Space Oddity video shows Bowie in a studio setting with a makeshift spaceship backdrop, the original promotional film for Love You Till Tuesday is even more bizarre. It provides a surreal glimpse into Bowie’s early visual artistry.

Rejected Honors In 2000 and 2003, David Bowie declined the titles of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and another knighthood. He chose to forgo these honors despite his significant contributions to British culture.

Bowie’s Fear of Theft During a troubled period in Los Angeles, Bowie reportedly kept his urine in the fridge, fearing it might be used in dark magic against him. His erratic behavior during this time reflected his struggle with personal and drug issues.

Half-Brother’s Tragic Death On January 16, 1985, Bowie’s half-brother Terry Burns committed suicide by lying on train tracks. This tragic event, connected to Bowie’s exploration of mental health themes in songs like “All the Madmen,” deeply affected him, though he avoided the media circus surrounding the incident.

Fame and John Lennon David Bowie’s first U.S. hit, “Fame,” topped the charts in 1975. Co-written and performed with John Lennon, who also provided backing vocals, this song marked a significant achievement in Bowie’s career.

A Constellation in His Honor Following Bowie’s death on January 18, 2016, Belgian astronomers named a group of seven stars to form a constellation resembling the lightning bolt from his Ziggy Stardust persona. This tribute reflects the lasting impact of his cosmic influence on music and culture.

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• 10 Best David Bowie Songs of All Time

List of the Top 10 Best David Bowie Songs of All Time

David Bowie was more than just a musician; he was a cultural phenomenon, a chameleon who constantly reinvented himself and redefined what it meant to be a rock star. From his earliest days as a space-obsessed outsider to his final years as an elder statesman of the avant-garde, Bowie’s music transcended genres, eras, and expectations. His ability to blend art, fashion, and sound created a legacy that continues to inspire artists and fans alike. But with a discography as vast and varied as his, it’s no easy task to single out just a handful of tracks that define his genius. Yet, some songs stand out, not just for their chart success, but for how they encapsulated Bowie’s ever-evolving artistry and the cultural zeitgeist of their time. These are the songs that have become anthems, the ones that still send shivers down your spine, whether it’s the first time you’re hearing them or the hundredth. Join us as we dive into the top 10 most popular David Bowie songs of all time, celebrating the music that made Bowie an immortal icon and shaped the soundtrack of our lives.

Table of Contents

1. “Space Oddity” (1969)

David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is an iconic track that launched him into stardom. Released just ahead of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the song tells the story of Major Tom, an astronaut who becomes stranded in space. The haunting melody and ethereal production capture the isolation and wonder of space exploration, resonating deeply with listeners during the height of the space race. The song’s innovative use of a Mellotron and stylophone, coupled with Bowie’s evocative lyrics, made it a groundbreaking piece in the realm of rock music. “Space Oddity” remains one of Bowie’s most enduring songs, a timeless classic that showcases his ability to blend narrative storytelling with cutting-edge soundscapes.

2. “Heroes” (1977)

Released in 1977, “Heroes” stands as one of David Bowie’s most celebrated anthems. The song was co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno during Bowie’s Berlin period, a time marked by artistic experimentation and personal reinvention. “Heroes” tells the story of two lovers who meet at the Berlin Wall, a powerful metaphor for love and hope in the face of division. With its soaring chorus and layered production, the song captures a sense of triumph and defiance. Bowie’s impassioned vocal delivery and the song’s uplifting message have made it a quintessential anthem of resilience. “Heroes” continues to inspire generations, embodying the spirit of hope against all odds.

3. “Life on Mars?” (1971)

“Life on Mars?” is one of David Bowie’s most enigmatic and beloved songs. Released in 1971 as part of the Hunky Dory album, the track is a surreal narrative that blends vivid imagery with a sense of alienation. The song’s protagonist, a young girl, escapes from the drudgery of everyday life into a fantastical world of cinema and television. Bowie’s lyrics are filled with pop culture references and social commentary, making the song a kaleidoscope of 1970s angst and disillusionment. Rick Wakeman’s haunting piano arrangement, combined with Bowie’s emotive voice, elevates the song to a masterpiece. “Life on Mars?” is a perfect example of Bowie’s ability to weave complex themes into a compelling and timeless melody.

4. “Starman” (1972)

“Starman” is the track that introduced the world to Ziggy Stardust, Bowie’s androgynous rock star alter ego. Released in 1972 as part of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album, “Starman” tells the story of a savior from space who brings hope to a dystopian world. The song’s infectious melody and uplifting chorus quickly became an anthem for the glam rock movement. Bowie’s performance of “Starman” on the BBC’s Top of the Pops is often credited with cementing his status as a cultural icon. The song’s blend of science fiction and social commentary, along with its catchy hook, has made “Starman” a fan favorite and a symbol of Bowie’s boundary-pushing artistry.

5. “Let’s Dance” (1983)

Released in 1983, “Let’s Dance” marked a significant shift in David Bowie’s sound and image, propelling him into the mainstream pop spotlight. Produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic, the song blends rock with danceable funk and new wave elements, creating an irresistible groove that dominated the charts. The song’s lyrics, while seemingly straightforward, carry an underlying tension between joy and fear, reflecting Bowie’s knack for layering meaning beneath a pop veneer. The accompanying music video, set against the backdrop of Australia’s landscapes, introduced the world to a more polished, yet still enigmatic, Bowie. “Let’s Dance” was a commercial success, reaching number one in multiple countries, and remains a staple on dance floors around the world.

6. “Ziggy Stardust” (1972)

“Ziggy Stardust” is the quintessential track from Bowie’s concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). The song narrates the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie’s messianic rock star persona, who is doomed by his own fame. With its raw guitar riff, courtesy of Mick Ronson, and Bowie’s vivid lyrics, “Ziggy Stardust” paints a picture of a tragic, otherworldly figure who captivates audiences but ultimately self-destructs. The song encapsulates the essence of Bowie’s glam rock phase, blending theatricality with rock and roll energy. “Ziggy Stardust” has been hailed as one of Bowie’s greatest achievements, a track that not only defines an era but also an artist constantly pushing the boundaries of music and identity.

7. “Changes” (1972)

“Changes” is a reflection of David Bowie’s ever-evolving artistic persona. Released in 1972 on the Hunky Dory album, the song is a declaration of Bowie’s commitment to reinvention. The lyrics speak to the inevitability of change and the importance of embracing it, themes that resonate with Bowie’s own career, marked by constant transformation. The song’s catchy piano riff, played by Rick Wakeman, and its memorable chorus have made it one of Bowie’s most recognizable tracks. Despite its introspective nature, “Changes” became an anthem for those seeking to break free from societal norms and expectations. It’s a song that captures the spirit of the early 70s while also serving as a timeless reminder of the power of change.

8. “Rebel Rebel” (1974)

“Rebel Rebel” is often considered David Bowie’s farewell to the glam rock era. Released in 1974, the song is a defiant anthem of teenage rebellion, with its iconic riff and lyrics celebrating individuality and non-conformity. Bowie’s raspy delivery and the raw, guitar-driven sound set “Rebel Rebel” apart from his earlier, more polished work. The song’s celebration of androgyny and self-expression resonated with fans, solidifying Bowie’s status as a champion for those who felt out of place in mainstream society. “Rebel Rebel” remains one of Bowie’s most enduring hits, a track that continues to inspire listeners to embrace their true selves, no matter how unconventional.

9. “Ashes to Ashes” (1980)

Released in 1980, “Ashes to Ashes” is a haunting and introspective track that revisits the character of Major Tom from “Space Oddity.” However, this time, Major Tom is depicted as a broken, washed-up figure, a stark contrast to the heroic astronaut of the original song. “Ashes to Ashes” is both a sequel and a reflective piece on Bowie’s own struggles with fame and addiction. The song’s eerie, synthesized soundscape and cryptic lyrics create a sense of disillusionment and melancholy. The accompanying music video, one of the most expensive ever made at the time, further cemented Bowie’s reputation as a visionary artist. “Ashes to Ashes” is a pivotal track in Bowie’s discography, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another.

10. “Under Pressure” (1981)

“Under Pressure” is the result of a collaboration between David Bowie and Queen, two of the most iconic acts of the 20th century. Released in 1981, the song is a powerful commentary on the stresses of modern life and the need for love and compassion. The track’s memorable bassline, played by Queen’s John Deacon, is instantly recognizable, and the interplay between Bowie’s and Freddie Mercury’s vocals creates a dynamic, emotional performance. “Under Pressure” was a commercial success, topping the charts in the UK and becoming one of the most beloved songs in both Bowie’s and Queen’s repertoires. The song’s message of empathy and unity continues to resonate, making it a timeless anthem for challenging times.

Samuel Moore is a frequent contributor to Singers Room. Since 2005, Singersroom has been the voice of R&B around the world. Connect with us via social media below.

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