David Bowie

Biography: David Bowie was born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, London, England. His parents were married on September 12, 1947. David has two siblings, a half brother named Terry and a half sister named Annette. David attended Bromley Technical High School. During his teen years, he began playing the saxophone. He quickly mastered the instrument and became involved with bands and musicals at school. In the 1960's, David was a struggling artist. He explored different styles of music, acting, mime, playwriting and painting. He decided that he needed change his stage name to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the The Monkees. David chose the name Bowie after the American hero of the Alamo, Jim Bowie. However, he pronounces the name with a long o rather than a long u. The name change did not seem to have an impact on his career and he would not begin to enjoy major success for more than a decade. On March 19, 1970, David married Angela Barnett and they had a son, Duncan Zowie Heywood Jones, on May 30, 1971. They eventually divorced in 1980. David's musical career continued to be a struggle, but things would soon take a turn in the right direction.

With the release of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in 1972 and the subsequent concert tour, David began to be noticed. The band was comprised of David Bowie on vocals and guitar, Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Woody Woodmansey on drums. They released another album in 1973 entitled Aladdin Sane while they were on the road, but it did not gain the same popularity as the Ziggy Stardust album did. The band broke up and David announced this to a stunned audience at the end of the final show in London.

After announcing the band's break up, David gathered new musicians and took his show on the road to the United States. The American audiences were in shock as they expected to see Ziggy Stardust, but were given something entirely different. David had traded in the spiky orange hair for a more conservative He no longer wore the flashy outfits and his stage show was much more elaborate. David's American fans embraced the new persona and changing his persona with each album became a trend of his for several decades.

David's success as a musician has allowed him to branch out and explore other forms of entertainment as well as artistic expression. He enjoys drawing and painting as well as acting. His films have not been overwhelmingly successful, but his Broadway performance as John Merrick in The Elephant Man brought him critical acclaim. He was the first musician to create his own network on the Internet which has become extremely successful.

David continues to record and release albums but he does not tour as often as he once did. On April 24, 1992, he married super model, Iman. They have one daughter named Alexandria Zahra Jones who was born on August 15, 2000.

With a career that spans decades, David has been a major influence on popular music and generations of musicians.… Expand