1947-01-08 ( 78 years old ) in London, England, UK

David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in popular music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists. In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, releasing eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Born and raised in South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. “Space Oddity” became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single “Starman” and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted radically towards a sound he characterized as “plastic soul,” initially alienating many of his UK devotees but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single “Fame” and the album Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. The following year, he further confounded musical expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low (1977), the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that would come to be known as the Berlin Trilogy. Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes,” its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and “Under Pressure,” a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let's Dance, with its title track topping both UK and US charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. Bowie also continued acting; his roles included Major Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), the Goblin King Jareth in Labyrinth (1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped concert touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar (2016).

Movies

Twiggy 2025-03-07
Eno 2024-07-12
TIME 2024-06-26
My Way 2024-05-16
DEVO 2024-01-21
Dear Bowie 2023-12-06
Thriller 40 2023-12-02
WHAM! 2023-06-27
LOLA 2023-04-07
Moby Doc 2021-05-28
Zappa 2020-11-27
Der Reichstag 2017-12-19
Burden 2016-04-16
Blackstar 2015-11-19
Bandslam 2009-08-06
Kings of Glam 2008-11-22
August 2008-05-16
The Prestige 2006-10-17
Best of Bowie 2006-01-25
TV Party 2005-08-03
Live Aid 2004-11-16
The Nomi Song 2004-10-14
Rockthology 2 2004-08-26
Pixies: Gouge 2004-04-27
Supergroups 2002-11-11
Zoolander 2001-09-28
Basquiat 1996-08-09
Labyrinth 1986-06-27
Live Aid 1985-07-13
Into the Night 1985-02-22
Video AID 1985-01-01
The Snowman 1984-12-15
Ricochet 1984-03-27
Yellowbeard 1983-06-24
Group Madness 1983-06-11
The Hunger 1983-04-29
Baal 1982-02-02
Christiane F. 1981-04-02
Just a Gigolo 1978-11-16
Fame 1976-06-23
Night Lunch 1975-12-09
Cracked Actor 1975-01-26
The Image 1969-01-01