David Bowie

David Bowie
Bowie during the Heathen Tour (Chicago, 2002)
Born	David Robert Jones (1947-01-08)8 January 1947 Brixton, London, England
Died	10 January 2016(2016-01-10) (aged 69) New York City, US
Cause of death	Liver cancer
Resting place	Ashes scattered in Bali
Occupation	Singer songwriter actor
Years active	1962–2016
Spouse(s)	Angie Barnett (m. 1970; div. 1980) Iman (m. 1992; his death 2016)
Children	2, including Duncan Jones
Musical career
Genres	Art rock glam rock pop electronic experimental
Instruments	Vocals guitar saxophone keyboards
Labels	ISO RCA Virgin EMI Columbia Deram Mercury BMG Pye Vocalion Parlophone
Associated acts	Tony Visconti Carlos Alomar The Riot Squad Arnold Corns Tin Machine The Hype Queen Iggy Pop Arcade Fire Brian Eno Lou Reed Adrian Belew Mick Ronson John Lennon Nine Inch Nails Mick Jagger Tina Turner Mott the Hoople
Website	davidbowie.com

David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie (/ˈboʊi/), 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 in Brixton, 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 characterised 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.