David Bowie

David Robert Jones, known as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music. He died from liver cancer at his home in New York City, two days after his 69th birthday.

About David Bowie in brief

Summary David BowieDavid Robert Jones, known as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was a leading figure in the music industry and is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft having a significant impact on popular music. During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one the best-selling music artists of all time. He died from liver cancer at his home in New York City, two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar. Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and Rolling Stone placed him among its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time following his death in 2016. He is survived by his wife, five children and six grandchildren. Bowie’s final album Blackstar won British Album of the Year at the 2017 Brit Awards and five Grammy Awards at the 2013 Grammy Awards. He also continued acting; his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth and Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ. He stopped 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 Next Day. The family lived in Stockwell Infants in south London until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child.

At the age of nine, his music teachers called him a ‘vividly imaginative and artistic child’ The family moved to Bickley Common, Bromley, before settling in Sundridge Park in 1955 where he attended Burnt Ash Junior School. His voice was considered above-average by the school choir and he demonstrated above- average abilities in playing the recorder. He studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. In 1975, Bowie’s style shifted towards a sound he characterised as \”plastic soul\”, initially alienating many of his UK fans but garnering him his first major US crossover success. In 1977, he further confounded expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low, the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the \”Berlin Trilogy\”. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg, and released Station to Station. He reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let’s Dance; its title track topped both UK and US charts. He continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle, in the 1990s and 2000s, and continued acting in film and television appearances and cameos. His mother, Margaret Mary \”Peggy\” Jones, was born at Shorncliffe Army Camp near Cheriton, Kent. His paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants who had settled in Manchester.