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Birth
David Robert Jones was born January 8, 1947 at home in Stansfield Road, Brixton in South-West London.Parents are Margaret "Peggy" Burns and Haywood "John" Stenton Jones. -
Name Change
The exact date is unknown. Davy Jones became David Bowie because of the success of The Monkees with lead singer Davy Jones. David chose the name 'Bowie' after the American pioneer Jim Bowie and his bowie knife (Gilmore, 19). The name change would not confuse him with anyone else. This did well for his career as his fans would refer to him as simply "Bowie." -
Space Oddity
This song was inspired by the American Space Program and Stanley Kubrick's landmark film "2001: A Space Oddity." It is the tale of astronaut "Major Tom" who is stuck permanently in space (Anderson, 24). Major Tom is a character that returns in Bowie's songs. His fate is revealed in Bowie's stage musical "Lazarus" and his final album "Blackstar." Both were released on his 69th birthday, just days before his death. -
The Rise of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Bowie creates character Ziggy Stardust as a rock star and in doing so Bowie becomes a rockstar. Bowie says "I found my character - one man against the world. It really reverberated in my mind. That's something that I really kind of honed in on." (Five Years, Year One 1971-1972). Bowie had turned himself into an idol onstage via Ziggy and no one had ever done that before. Bowie killed off the character on July 3, 1973 due to Ziggy taking over his offstage life. -
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Director Nicolas Roeg saw David Bowie in a BBC TV production of "Cracked Actor" starring David Bowie as himself in 1975. Roeg cast him in the sci-fi drama "The Man Who Fell to Earth." Bowie accepted the lead role and said "The film is the first thing I've been given where I didn't have to play a rock and roll star ..." (Five Years Year Two 1974-1975). Bowie has stepped out of the rock and roll music world and successfully moved into acting. -
Serious Moonlight Tour
The success of the Serious Moonlight tour was beyond belief for Bowie. He says "Suddenly I wasn't a cult artist anymore." ... "I allowed myself to be pushed into the commercial arena because I'd never been there and it was sort of, "Ooh, what's it like?" But there it was and I jumped in with my future in my hands." (Five Years Year Five 1982-1983). Bowie had achieved huge success as a musical artist. -
Death
David Bowie died on a Sunday in Manhattan, New York City, New York. He was 69 years old and died from liver cancer. Bowie worked on and completed his final album
"Blackstar" and a theater musical called "Lazarus" both released on his 69th birthday (Guzman, 57). Both productions wrapped up the "Major Tom" fate introduced in his first hit "Space Oddity."
