David Bowie is a popular British singer, songwriter, sound engineer and actor. The celebrity is called the "chameleon of rock music", and all because David, like gloves, changed his image.
Bowie managed the impossible - he kept pace with the times. He managed to preserve his own style of presenting musical material, for which he was recognized by millions of music lovers all over the planet.
The musician has been on stage for over 50 years. He is rightfully considered an innovator, in particular due to his work in the early 1970s. Bowie has influenced many musicians. He was known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth of the tracks he created.
Originally alternating images from a folk artist to an alien, David Bowie won the title of the most successful artist in the history of the British charts, as well as one of the best musicians of the last 60 years.
Childhood and youth of David Robert Jones
David Robert Jones (real name of the singer) was born on January 8, 1947 in London's Brixton. The boy was brought up in an ordinary family. His mother worked as a cashier at the cinema. Father - a native Englishman by nationality, served as a clerk in the personnel department of a charitable organization.
At the time of birth, David's parents were not officially married. When the boy was 8 months old, his father proposed to his mother, and they signed.
David from early childhood was interested not only in music, but also in studies. In high school, Jones established himself as a very inquisitive and intelligent boy. He was equally easy given the exact and humanities.
In 1953, David Bowie's family moved to Bromley. The boy entered the town at Burnt Ash Primary School. Actually, then he began to attend a music circle and a choir. Teachers noted a phenomenal ability to interpret.
When David first heard Presley's songs, he decided that he wanted to become like his idol. By the way, David and Elvis were born on the same day, but they were only separated by a difference of 12 years.
David persuaded his father to buy a ukulele and made a bass himself to participate in skill sessions with friends. The guy was completely and completely fascinated by music. In turn, this negatively affected school performance. He failed his exams and went to college. The dreams of parents about higher education did not come true.
College Years
Studying in college did not please the guy. Gradually he abandoned his studies. Instead, he was interested in jazz. David wanted to become a saxophonist.
To buy a pink plastic Selmer saxophone, he took almost every job. A year later, his mother gave David a white alto saxophone for Christmas. His dream came true.
In adolescence, a misfortune happened that deprived David of normal vision. He got into a fight with a friend and suffered a serious injury to his left eye. The guy spent several months in the hospital walls. He underwent many surgeries to restore his sight. Alas, the doctors failed to fully restore vision.
The performer has partially lost the perception of color. For the rest of his life, he remained with signs of heterochromia, the color of the iris of a dark star.
David himself does not understand how he graduated from college. He was completely fascinated by music. By the end of graduation, the guy owned playing musical instruments: guitar, saxophone, keyboards, harpsichord, electric guitar, vibraphone, ukulele, harmonica, piano, koto and percussion.
The creative path of David Bowie
David's creative path began with the fact that he organized the group The Kon-rads. At first, the musicians earned extra money with their playing at various festive events.
David categorically did not want to remain in the team, which for the audience looked like clowns. He soon switched to The King Bees. Working in a new team, David Jones wrote a bold appeal to millionaire John Bloom. The musician offered the man to become the producer of the group and earn a few more million.
Bloom ignored the proposal of the novice musician. Still, David's appeal did not go unnoticed. Bloom gave the letter to Leslie Conn, one of the Beatles' track publishers. He became interested in Bowie and offered him a contract.
The creative pseudonym "Bowie" David took in his youth. He did not want to be confused with one of the members of The Monkees. Under the new name, the musician began performing in 1966.
The first performances took place at the site of the Marki nightclub as part of The Lower Third. Soon David recorded several tracks, but they came out very "raw". Connon broke the contract with the novice performer, because he considered it unpromising. Bowie then released an album and recorded a sixth single which failed to chart.
Musical "failures" made David doubt his talent. For several years he disappeared from the world of music. But the young man plunged headlong into a new occupation - theatrical performances. He performed in the circus. David actively studied dramatic art. He completely immersed himself in the creation of images, characters and characters. Later, he conquered millions of viewers with his acting.
Still, the music attracted David Bowie more. He again and again made attempts to conquer the top of the musical Olympus. The musician gained recognition 7 years later after trying to make music lovers fall in love with his tracks.
The Peak of David Bowie
The musical composition Space Oddity, which was released in 1969, entered the top 5 of the British hit parade. On the wave of popularity, the musician released an album of the same name, which was appreciated by European fans. David Bowie did a good job of "shaking up" the rock culture that existed at that time. He managed to give this musical genre the missing expressiveness.
In 1970, the singer's discography was replenished with the third album. The collection was called The Man Who Sold the World. The tracks included in the record are pure hard rock.
Music critics called the work "the beginning of the era of glam rock." After the successful presentation of the third studio album, the musician created the Hype band. As part of the group, he gave the first large-scale concert, performing under the creative pseudonym Ziggy Stardust. All these events made the musician a real rock star. David managed to conquer music lovers and become a kind of ideal for them.
After the release of the Young Americans collection, the musician's popularity increased tenfold. The musical composition Fame became the first hit in the United States of America. In the mid-1970s, Bowie performed on stage as the Gaunt White Duke, performing rock ballads.
In 1980, the singer's discography was replenished with another successful album, Scary Monsters. This is one of the artist's most commercially successful albums.
At the same time, David began to collaborate with the popular band Queen. Soon he released the track Under Pressure with the musicians, which became a No. 1 hit in the British charts. In 1983, David released another collection of dance music Let's Dance.
Early 1990s
The early 1990s were not only a time for musical experimentation. David Bowie tried on different images, for which he secured the status of "rock music chameleon". With all the diversity, he managed to maintain an individual image.
During this time, David Bowie released a number of interesting albums. The conceptual collection 1.Outside deserves special attention. In three words, the collection can be described as a powerful, original and incredibly high-quality work.
In 1997, the performer turned 50 years old. He celebrated his birthday at Madison Square Garden. There, the rock musician was awarded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his invaluable contribution to the recording industry.
The last collection of David Bowie's discography was Blackstar. He released the presented album in 2016, on his 69th birthday. The album contains 7 tracks in total. Some of the songs were used in the musical "Lazarus" and the TV series "The Last Panthers".
And now about David Bowie in numbers. The musician released:
- 26 studio albums;
- 9 live albums;
- 46 collections;
- 112 singles;
- 56 clips.
In the early 2000s, the celebrity entered the list of "100 Greatest Britons". David Bowie has been named the most popular artist of all time. He has many prestigious awards on his shelf.
David Bowie and cinema
David Bowie acted in films. The rock musician very organically played the images of rebel musicians. Such roles bounced off the musician's teeth. On account of David, the role of an alien in the science fiction movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth." As well as the goblin king in the film "Labyrinth", work in the drama "Beautiful Gigolo, Poor Gigolo".
He brilliantly played in the erotic film "Hunger" as a 200-year-old vampire. One of the most significant David considered the role of Pontius Pilate in Scorsese's film "The Last Temptation of Christ." In the 1990s, Bowie starred in the TV series Twin Peaks: Through the Fire, where he played an FSB agent.
David later appeared in the movie Basquiat. In the film, he got the role of Andy Warhol. Bowie last appeared in the brilliant film The Prestige. In the film, he played a major role, appearing before the audience in the image of Nikola Tesla.
Personal life of David Bowie
David Bowie has always been in the spotlight. Therefore, it is not surprising that the details of the musician's personal life were of interest to his fans. In the mid-1970s, a celebrity shocked him by admitting that he was bisexual. Until 1993, this topic was actively discussed by journalists. Until the moment when Bowie refuted the words he had said.
David said that when he talked about possible bisexuality, he just wanted to stay in trend. The musician said that thanks to the fact that he created the “veil” of bisexual, he gained millions of fans.
Bowie has been married twice and has two adult children. The first wife was the model Angela Barnett. In 1971, she gave birth to his son Duncan Zoe Haywood Jones. After 10 years, this marriage broke up.
The rock idol did not grieve for long. There was always a crowd of fans around the celebrity. The second time he married a model from Somalia, Iman Abdulmajid. In the early 2000s, a woman gave David a daughter, who was named Alexandria Zahra.
2004 was a real test of strength for David Bowie. The fact is that he underwent heart surgery associated with blockage of the heart artery. The musician underwent an angioplasty. After surgery, he needed a lot of time to recover.
David began to appear less and less on stage. Journalists said that the musician's condition worsened. In 2011, information appeared that the "chameleon of rock music" was leaving the stage altogether. But it was not there! Since 2013, the musician has been active again and released new albums.
Interesting facts about David Bowie
- In 2004, during a concert in Oslo, one of the fans threw a lollipop. He hit the star in the left eye. The assistant helped the musician remove the foreign object. The incident ended without consequences.
- As a teenager, David founded a community against cruelty to long-haired men.
- One of the most tragic moments in David's life was the day his brother escaped from a psychiatric hospital and committed suicide. Echoes of the theme can be found in the songs: Aladdin Sane, All the Madmen and Jump They Say.
- A strand of celebrity hair was sold for $18.
- As a teenager, the musician created a community against cruelty towards long-haired men.
Death of David Bowie
On January 10, 2016, David Bowie passed away. The musician waged a merciless war with cancer for more than a year, but, unfortunately, he lost this battle. In addition to oncology, the musician was attacked by six heart attacks. The singer's health problems began back in the 1970s, when he used drugs.
The rock star managed to overcome drug addiction. Despite this, the use of hard drugs negatively affected David's health. He developed heart problems, his memory deteriorated, he became distracted.
David Bowie died surrounded by family. Relatives until the last minute of life remained with the musician nearby. The singer managed to celebrate his 69th birthday, as well as release the latest studio album Blackstar. He left behind a huge musical legacy. The singer bequeathed to cremate his body and scatter the ashes in a secret place on the island of Bali.
