History Music / DavidBowie

Although his recording career began in [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion 1964]] -- he released numerous R&B and Merseybeat-influenced singles (all of which are collected on the 1991 compilation ''Early On'') and an album (the self-titled ''Music/{{David Bowie|1967}}'', featuring a series of whimsical music hall-inspired ditties) during the middle years of The60s -- David Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in the autumn of 1969, when his space-age mini-melodrama "Space Oddity" (from his second album, also titled ''David Bowie'' and now better known as ''Music/SpaceOddity'') reached the top five of the UK singles chart. After three years of musical experimentation and jumping between record labels, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era as the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars''. The [[BrieferThanTheyThink relatively short-lived]] Ziggy persona (about 18 months) epitomised a career often marked by musical innovation, reinvention, and striking visual presentation. He also produced Music/LouReed's album ''Music/{{Transformer}}'' around the same time, and Music/TheStooges' ''Music/RawPower''.

The '80s were also significant for Bowie in that they marked an unusual milestone for him: after the 1983 Japanese CD release of ''Let's Dance'' and the 1984 CD release of ''Tonight'', Bowie's previous record label took it upon themselves to re-release the remainder of Bowie's catalog on the format as well. in 1985, Bowie's first 14 studio albums were all released on CD, with the remaining songs in his backlog included on several [[GreatestHitsAlbum greatest hits albums]]; as a result, Bowie became the first artist to have his entire catalog made available on UsefulNotes/CompactDisc.

Bowie and his work have been [[ShoutOut referenced]], [[AffectionateParody parodied]], and [[MemeticBadass otherwise]] in a colourful variety of works. The 1998 film ''Film/VelvetGoldmine'' presents a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed take on Bowie's glam rock years. He's portrayed as a shape-shifting anti-villain in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "The Waters of Mars" has a Bowie Base One on the Red Planet, the villains of one ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E19ADogAndPonyShow episode]] are known as Diamond Dogs, the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode "[[Recap/ReadyJetGoS2E11PotatoesOnMarsBortronLeprechaun Potatoes on Mars]]" had a "Life on Mars?" parody, etc. Two of his songs informed and became the titles of, a very successful Creator/{{BBC}} series and its follow-up in the new millennium (namely, ''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}'' and ''Series/AshesToAshes2008''). At the 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames in London, the closing stretch of the opening ceremony's Parade of Nations had Great Britain's team marching to "'Heroes'", which became the team's unofficial theme song. Bowie was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1996. And he's a popular subject for RealPersonFic, while his various characters turn up in fics of their own.

* CoverAlbum: ''Music/PinUps''. Bowie wanted to release a new album, but not to include new material because of a dispute with his publisher. His solution? Record an album of songs from UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion that had influenced him.

+ Music/LittleRichard, Music/BobDylan, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/ScottWalker, Music/SydBarrett, Music/TheBeatles, Music/JohnLennon, Music/TheKinks, Music/VelvetUnderground, Creator/AnthonyNewley, Music/BrianEno, Music/ChuckBerry, Harmonia, Music/ThePrettyThings, The Spinners, Music/TheWho, Music/JacquesBrel, Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/KurtWeill, Music/PhilipGlass, Music/{{Love|Band}}, Music/MarcBolan, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/TheStooges, Vince Taylor, Music/AlGreen, Billy Fury, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/{{Devo}}, Music/DonnaSummer, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ThePixies, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/DeathGrips, Music/KendrickLamar...

+ Music/{{ABC}}, Music/AdamAnt, Music/AHa, Music/{{Alphaville}}, Music/TheAssociates, Music/{{Bauhaus}}, Music/{{Berlin}}, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BlocParty, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/TheBreeders, Music/KateBush, Music/WangChung, Music/TheChurch, Julian Cope, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, Music/DeadOrAlive, Music/DepecheMode, Music/ThomasDolby, Music/DuranDuran, Music/{{Erasure}}, Music/{{Eurythmics}}, Music/{{Falco}}, Music/{{Felt}}, Music/FranzFerdinand, Music/AFlockOfSeagulls, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, Music/GaryGlitter, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/TheHumanLeague, Music/IggyPop, Music/{{INXS}}, Music/{{Interpol}}, Music/JoeJackson, Music/JanesAddiction, Music/{{Japan}}, Jobriath, Creator/GraceJones, Howard Jones, Music/JoyDivision, Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/LadyGaga, Music/LaRoux, Music/LoveAndRockets, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/{{Maneskin}}, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/MarilynManson, Music/{{Moby}}, Modern English, Music/{{Morrissey}}, Music/MottTheHoople, Music/{{Muse}},
Music/{{My Chemical Romance}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Music/{{Supergrass}}, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

Although his recording career began in [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion 1964]] -- he released numerous R&B and Merseybeat-influenced singles (all of which are collected on the 1991 compilation ''Early On'') and an album (the self-titled ''Music/{{David Bowie|1967}}'', featuring a series of whimsical music hall-inspired ditties) during the middle years of TheSixties -- David Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in the autumn of 1969, when his space-age mini-melodrama "Space Oddity" (from his second album, also titled ''David Bowie'' and now better known as ''Music/SpaceOddity'') reached the top five of the UK singles chart. After three years of musical experimentation and jumping between record labels, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era as the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars''. The [[BrieferThanTheyThink relatively short-lived]] Ziggy persona (about 18 months) epitomised a career often marked by musical innovation, reinvention, and striking visual presentation. He also produced Music/LouReed's album ''Music/{{Transformer}}'' around the same time, and Music/TheStooges' ''Music/RawPower''.

In TheNineties, Bowie returned to solo work with 1993's ''Music/BlackTieWhiteNoise'', an electronic/jazz/house hybrid album which yielded another Top 10 single in "Jump They Say". At the end of the year he would go to provide the music for the BBC mini-series ''The Buddha of Suburbia'', which was also released as [[Music/TheBuddhaOfSuburbia an album]]. 1994-5 saw Bowie reunite with Eno to produce ''[[Music/{{Outside}} 1. Outside]]'', a much DarkerAndEdgier Industrial RockOpera which explored the concept of murder as an art form. While ''1. Outside'' was slated to have two sequel albums, Bowie scrapped the idea and instead issued ''Music/{{Earthling}}'' in 1997, which explored DrumNBass. The song "I'm Afraid of Americans" was notable for being remixed by Music/NineInchNails and issued as a single. NIИ lead and (at the time) [[IAmTheBand sole member]] Trent Reznor also featured in the video as a stalker tracking down a paranoid Bowie.

By TheNewTens, Bowie was an apparently-retired ReclusiveArtist...until January 8, 2013 (his 66th birthday), when he announced a new album, ''Music/TheNextDay'', and presented its first song and video online. He no longer performed live or granted interviews by that stage. While he would not appear onstage, his next major project ''Lazarus'' (a musical stage play co-written with Enda Walsh, [[InspiredBy inspired by]] the source novel for ''The Man Who Fell to Earth'') was set to debut off-Broadway in late 2015. It was followed by what would turn out to be his final studio album, ''Music/BlackstarAlbum''[[note]] pronounced ''Blackstar'' [[/note]], released on his 69th birthday in January 2016. Two days after its release, Bowie passed away after an eighteen-month battle with liver cancer [[SecretlyDying that he had been keeping secret]]. Two weeks later, NASA immediately discovered a planet in some other galaxy. You do the math.

Notable for keeping his political opinions to himself and concentrating on entertainment.[[note]]Well, except during his drug-induced CreatorBreakdown in TheSeventies, when he dabbled in fascism as the Thin White Duke -- as Music/RickJames once said, "[[Series/ChappellesShow Cocaine is a hell of a drug.]]" It is unlikely that Bowie ever held sincere fascist beliefs; he was actually working with a racially integrated band and was inspired by the works of American singer and civil rights activist Music/NinaSimone to record a cover of the song "Wild Is the Wind" during the time he was portraying the Duke, and he later criticised Creator/{{MTV}} for not playing videos by Black artists during the early 1980s. (Also, you know, he would later be happily married to a Muslim Black woman and the proud father of a mixed-race child. If there's one thing that terrifies and repulses actual fascists/racists, it's mixed marriages and the resultant "half breed" children.) Bowie was also openly political in a few of his later songs (and he expressed anti-fascist or anti-racist views in them), though the songs that ''are'' overtly political tend to be overshadowed by his other works.[[/note]] He married Somalian supermodel-actress Iman in 1992, and the couple had a daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones, in 2000. Via his first marriage to Angela Barnett in TheSeventies, he is also the father of Zowie Bowie, better known these days as Creator/DuncanJones, who made a name for himself as the director of the 2009 sci-fi CultClassic ''Film/{{Moon}}'' and the 2011 techno-thriller ''Film/SourceCode''.

%%* AmericanTitle: Of the ironic variety with ''Music/YoungAmericans'' and its title track, a rather cynical portrait of ennui and disappointment in America in TheSeventies.

** He couldn't bear to travel in TheSeventies without at least a trunk full of books, and once put a list up at Bowienet of his favorite recently-read / re-read books... With 51 titles on it!

** He did quite a few product endorsements, perhaps inevitably as he did commercial work ''before'' he was a celebrity, appearing in an ad for Luv ice cream pops in TheSixties.

* CelebrityParadox: Played with in the short story that accompanies ''1. Outside'', which is written as the diary of Detective Nathan Adler. Briefly recounting the history of the shocking performance art that paved the way for the "art-crime" fad, he notes that in TheSeventies "Bowie the singer remarked on a coupla goons who frequented the Berlin bars wearing dull surgery regalia: Caps, aprons, rubber gloves and masks." No first name is given...

* ConceptVideo: A favorite trope of his from the turn of TheEighties onward -- see "Look Back in Anger", "Ashes to Ashes" (though its concept is vague enough that it overlaps with SurrealMusicVideo), "China Girl", "Day-In Day-Out", "Jump They Say", "Thursday's Child", etc. His contributions to the medium made him one of the original recipients of the Creator/{{MTV}} Video Vanguard Award at the first Video Music Awards ceremony in 1984, and his only competitive Grammy win was in 1985 for Best Short Form Music Video (''Jazzin' for Blue Jean'').

* DarkerAndEdgier: [[invoked]] His albums, or stretches of such, tend to alternate between this and LighterAndSofter (owing to his penchant for the NewSoundAlbum trope), but an even clearer example of this can be seen with his stage personas in TheSeventies. After the flamboyant tragic rock messiah of [[Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars Ziggy Stardust]] and the variants of ''Music/AladdinSane'', et. al., with 1976's ''Music/StationToStation'' came The Thin White Duke -- a heartless Fascist. This persona owed a lot to a CreatorBreakdown and his heavy drug abuse at the time (including cocaine addiction), and Bowie's decision to pull himself up from it all was accompanied by a choice to not only dump the persona, but to only be himself on stage afterwards.

** ''Music/AladdinSane'': The album was an unusual victim of Creator/RCARecords' self-admittedly rushed CD releases of the Bowie catalog in TheEighties. Unlike other albums in the series, ''Aladdin Sane'' was pressed solely in Japan regardless of region (other albums had European copies made by [=PolyGram=] in West Germany), but used two different plants with different masters: CSR and Denon. The Denon master, featured on European copies and later American ones, is considered overly-muddy compared to the CSR master (used solely for early American copies) and the original LP, featuring a lower volume, reduced treble, and increased bass.

* MusicIsPolitics: Faced issues with the music industry's politics more than once. Among other things, the mid '70s saw him facing managerial and money problems, the late '70s saw RCA try to get him to make more blue-eyed soul as opposed to ''Music/{{Low|DavidBowieAlbum}}'', the turn of TheNineties saw him leave [=EMI=] over their reservations about a second Tin Machine album, and 2002 saw him part ways with Virgin when they shelved ''Toy'' due to financial concerns.

* RecordProducer: In TheSeventies, he gave a helping hand to some of his influences when he produced ''Music/{{Transformer}}'' for Music/LouReed, ''Music/RawPower'' for Music/TheStooges, and ''Music/TheIdiot'' and ''Music/LustForLife'' for Music/IggyPop.

* {{Remaster}}: One of the first high-profile remastering campaigns in popular music was that for Bowie, who licensed out his 1969-1980 back-catalog to Creator/{{Rykodisc}} at the turn of TheNineties in order to replace the out-of-print Creator/RCARecords [=CDs=], which drew Bowie's ire for their highly variable quality. Rykodisc's [=CDs=] were sourced from the original master tapes (unlike the RCA discs, which used multigeneration safety tapes equalized for cassette) and included outtakes and rarities as bonus tracks, setting a standard for later remasters/reissues in the music industry. Creator/VirginRecords would then follow up on this with similar expanded remasters of his 1983-1989 albums in 1995. Bowie's catalog would be remastered again multiple times in subsequent years, first by Creator/{{EMI}} and Virgin in 1999, then incrementally by Creator/ParlophoneRecords starting in 2015.

* {{Retraux}}: The "Wild Is the Wind" video's visuals mimic the look of American jazz programs of TheFifties.

* SecretIdentityIdentity: Struggled with identity issues in TheSeventies where his characters were concerned, in particular Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke. The threat of the heartless, Fascistic Duke, who was partly inspired and "aided" by Bowie's substance abuse problems, consuming him was the primary reason he stopped creating and assuming such stage personas.

* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Lived the sex, drugs, and rock and roll life in TheSeventies, which influenced his stage personas of Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, etc. Songs on the subject include "Ziggy Stardust" and "Ashes to Ashes" (the latter of which looks back on this period).

** ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' was a key visual inspiration for Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and the term "droogie" is dropped in "Suffragette City". The influence shows up again in "Girl Loves Me", which is sung mostly in Nadsat and Polari slang (the latter is from the gay subculture of London in TheSeventies).

* {{Storyboard}}: Bowie drew storyboards up for the videos he did with director David Mallet at the turn of TheEighties.

* SurrealMusicVideo: Many, including "Fashion", "Loving the Alien", "Miracle Goodnight", "Hallo Spaceboy", and "Little Wonder". Of these, "Miracle Goodnight" seems to be the most prominent example, being an abstract collage of offbeat imagery that seems surprisingly prescient of the style of music video that would become popular during TheNewTens.

** With regards to his stage personas in TheSeventies, the flamboyant, messianic Ziggy Stardust was followed by the variants of Aladdin Sane and Halloween Jack (''Music/DiamondDogs'')... And then came the depths of darkness with The Thin White Duke.

* TheTrickster: One never knew quite what the new Bowie album would be like for most of his career or, in TheSeventies, which persona it would be... And even after you got it, there was guaranteed to be enough LyricalDissonance to keep you scratching your head wondering what it really meant for years. The ''visual'' presentation of his work (concerts, videos, live TV performances) varies wildly from period to period as well. He freely courted controversy and flaunted unconventional ways in TheSeventies, and though he did mellow out by TheEighties, he never lost the strong sense of humor that served him well both on and offstage. And while the man himself is mellow, he is still capable of creating works of alarming darkness and grotesquerie.

Music/{{My Chemical Romance}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

* ShownTheirWork: The Bowie-penned short story that makes up the bulk of the liner notes for ''1. Outside'' not only establishes the album's storyline and characters, but also weaves in stories of the grisly "precursors" of the art-crime movement. These are mostly RealLife 20th century artists of the TrueArtIsIncomprehensible school, and often particularly grisly ones at that: Hermann Nitsch, Chris Burden, Damien Hirst, Ron Athey, and Guy Bourdin. (Burden had previously inspired the ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'' song "Joe the Lion".)

+ Music/LittleRichard, Music/BobDylan, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/ScottWalker, Music/SydBarrett, Music/TheBeatles, Music/JohnLennon, Music/TheKinks, Music/VelvetUnderground, Creator/AnthonyNewley, Music/BrianEno, Music/ChuckBerry, Harmonia, Music/ThePrettyThings, The Spinners, Music/TheWho, Music/JacquesBrel, Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/KurtWeill, Music/PhilipGlass, Music/{{Love}}, Music/MarcBolan, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/TheStooges, Vince Taylor, Music/AlGreen, Billy Fury, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/{{Devo}}, Music/DonnaSummer, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ThePixies, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/DeathGrips, Music/KendrickLamar...

Music/My Chemical Romance,Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

Music/{{My Chemical Romance}},Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

Music/{{My Chemical Romance}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

+ Music/{{ABC}}, Music/AdamAnt, Music/AHa, Music/{{Alphaville}}, Music/TheAssociates, Music/{{Bauhaus}}, Music/{{Berlin}}, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BlocParty, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/TheBreeders, Music/KateBush, Music/WangChung, Music/TheChurch, Julian Cope, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, Music/DeadOrAlive, Music/DepecheMode, Music/ThomasDolby, Music/DuranDuran, Music/{{Erasure}}, Music/{{Eurythmics}}, Music/{{Falco}}, Music/{{Felt}}, Music/FranzFerdinand, Music/AFlockOfSeagulls, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, Music/GaryGlitter, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/TheHumanLeague, Music/IggyPop, Music/{{INXS}}, Music/{{Interpol}}, Music/JoeJackson, Music/JanesAddiction, Music/{{Japan}}, Jobriath, Creator/GraceJones, Howard Jones, Music/JoyDivision, Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/LadyGaga, Music/LaRoux, Music/LoveAndRockets, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/{{Maneskin}}, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/MarilynManson, Music/{{Moby}}, Modern English, Music/{{Morrissey}}, Music/MottTheHoople, Music/{{Muse}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

Although his recording career began in [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion 1964]] -- he released numerous R&B and Merseybeat-influenced singles (all of which are collected on the 1991 compilation ''Early On'') and an album (the self-titled ''David Bowie'', featuring a series of whimsical music hall-inspired ditties) during the middle years of TheSixties -- David Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in the autumn of 1969, when his space-age mini-melodrama "Space Oddity" (from his second album, also titled ''David Bowie'' and now better known as ''Music/SpaceOddity'') reached the top five of the UK singles chart. After three years of musical experimentation and jumping between record labels, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era as the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars''. The [[BrieferThanTheyThink relatively short-lived]] Ziggy persona (about 18 months) epitomised a career often marked by musical innovation, reinvention, and striking visual presentation. He also produced Music/LouReed's album ''Music/{{Transformer}}'' around the same time, and Music/TheStooges' ''Music/RawPower''.

* 1967 - ''[[Music/DavidBowie1967 David Bowie]]''

Although his recording career began in [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion 1964]] -- he released numerous singles (which are collected on the 1991 compilation ''Early On'') and an album during the middle years of TheSixties -- David Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in the autumn of 1969, when his space-age mini-melodrama "Space Oddity" (from ''David Bowie'' -- now better known as ''Music/SpaceOddity'') reached the top five of the UK singles chart. After three years of musical experimentation and jumping between record labels, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era as the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars''. The [[BrieferThanTheyThink relatively short-lived]] Ziggy persona (about 18 months) epitomised a career often marked by musical innovation, reinvention, and striking visual presentation. He also produced Music/LouReed's album ''Music/{{Transformer}}'' around the same time, and Music/TheStooges' ''Music/RawPower''.

+ Music/{{ABC}}, Music/AdamAnt, Music/AHa, Music/{{Alphaville}}, Music/TheAssociates, Music/{{Bauhaus}}, Music/{{Berlin}}, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BlocParty, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/TheBreeders, Music/KateBush, Music/WangChung, Music/TheChurch, Julian Cope, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, Music/DeadOrAlive, Music/DepecheMode, Music/ThomasDolby, Music/DuranDuran, Music/{{Erasure}}, Music/{{Eurythmics}}, Music/{{Falco}}, Music/{{Felt}}, Music/FranzFerdinand, Music/AFlockOfSeagulls, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, Music/GaryGlitter, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/TheHumanLeague, Music/IggyPop, Music/{{INXS}}, Music/{{Interpol}}, Music/JoeJackson, Music/JanesAddiction, Music/{{Japan}}, Jobriath, Creator/GraceJones, Howard Jones, Music/JoyDivision, Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/LadyGaga, Music/LaRoux, Music/LoveAndRockets, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/{{Maneskin}}, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/MarilynManson, Music/{{Moby}}, Modern English, Music/{{Morrissey}}, Music/MottTheHoople, Music/{{Muse}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNuman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

+ Music/{{ABC}}, Music/AdamAnt, Music/AHa, Music/{{Alphaville}}, Music/TheAssociates, Music/{{Bauhaus}}, Music/{{Berlin}}, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BlocParty, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/TheBreeders, Music/KateBush, Music/WangChung, Music/TheChurch, Julian Cope, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, Music/DeadOrAlive, Music/DepecheMode, Music/ThomasDolby, Music/DuranDuran, Music/{{Erasure}}, Music/{{Eurythmics}}, Music/{{Falco}}, Music/{{Felt}}, Music/FranzFerdinand, Music/AFlockOfSeagulls, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, Music/GaryGlitter, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/TheHumanLeague, Music/IggyPop, Music/{{INXS}}, Music/{{Interpol}}, Music/JoeJackson, Music/JanesAddiction, Music/{{Japan}}, Jobriath, Creator/GraceJones, Howard Jones, Music/JoyDivision, Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/LadyGaga, Music/LaRoux, Music/LoveAndRockets, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/{{Maneskin}}, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/MarilynManson, Music/{{Moby}}, Modern English, Music/{{Morrissey}}, Music/MottTheHoople, Music/{{Muse}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewOrder, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/KlausNomi, Music/GaryNyman, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/RedVox Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheRunaways, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/PattiSmith, Music/TheSmiths, Music/SoftCell, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/HarryStyles, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheThe, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/TheVerve, Music/{{Wham}}, Music/{{Yello}},...

+ Music/DepecheMode, Creator/GraceJones, Music/DuranDuran, Music/IggyPop, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{Japan}}, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/{{Morrissey}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheAssociates, Music/TheHumanLeague, Music/{{ABC}}, Music/AdamAnt, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Eurythmics}}, Music/GaryGlitter, Music/GaryNuman, Music/{{Wham}}, Howard Jones, Jobriath, Music/JoyDivision, Music/NewOrder, Music/KlausNomi, Music/LadyGaga, Music/{{Moby}}, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/{{Sponge}}, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/ThomasDolby, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/AFlockOfSeagulls, Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Bauhaus}}, Music/BlocParty, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/DeadOrAlive, Music/{{Erasure}}, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, Music/FranzFerdinand, Music/JoeJackson, Julian Cope, Music/KateBush, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/LoveAndRockets, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/MottTheHoople, Music/{{Muse}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PattiSmith, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/SoftCell, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheChurch, Music/TheRunaways, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/TheSmiths, Music/TheVerve, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/WangChung, Music/{{Yello}}, Music/AHa, Music/{{Alphaville}}, Music/{{Berlin}}, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/{{Falco}}, Music/{{Felt}}, Music/{{Interpol}}, Music/{{INXS}}, Music/JanesAddiction, Music/LaRoux, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/MarilynManson, Modern English, Music/NineInchNails, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/TheBreeders, Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/TheThe, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/HarryStyles, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/{{Maneskin}}, Music/RedVox...

->''"Do you have one really freaky sequin space suit, man? Or do you have several ch-ch-ch-ch-changes? Do you smoke grass out in space, man? Or do they smoke astroturf? Oh yeah, oh, it's such an artificial high!"''

* {{Bishonen}}: Western performer, but oh, ''yes''. If not a direct inspiration for many a bishōnen, he's often ''the'' example people cite as the most analogous example in Western media: throughout the 70s in particular, he was known for his waiflike body type, angular facial structure, and sharp eye shape, all of which would serve as key features of the bishōnen image in the decades ahead.
%%** Disney's ''Series/KickinIt'' did a '70s parody episode with a Ziggy Stardust {{Expy}}; the actor was fourteen. [[http://i.imgur.com/avUtEaf.jpg Bowie himself]] was in his early / mid-'20s in that phase. The kid pulled it off.

* CoolOldGuy: Given things like his embrace of new technologies (composing the soundtrack for ''VideoGame/OmikronTheNomadSoul'' being an obvious example), collaborations with younger artists, and continuing to produce new music right up to his death, he certainly qualified.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles: On ''1. Outside'', he gives voice to a 52-year-old detective, a 14-year-old ''female'' murder victim, {{mad artist}}s of both genders, a 78-year-old shopkeeper, etc. (There are pictures of most of them in the booklet, via the magic of makeup, costume, and image manipulation.)

+ Music/DepecheMode, Creator/GraceJones, Music/DuranDuran, Music/IggyPop, Music/ElvisCostello, Music/{{Japan}}, Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/{{Morrissey}}, Music/ThePixies, Music/{{Queen|Band}}, Music/RoxyMusic, Music/TheAssociates, Music/TheHumanLeague, Music/{{ABC}}, Music/AdamAnt, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/{{Blondie}}, Music/{{Eurythmics}}, Music/GaryGlitter, Music/GaryNuman, Music/{{Wham}}, Howard Jones, Jobriath, Music/JoyDivision, Music/NewOrder, Music/KlausNomi, Music/LadyGaga, Music/{{Moby}}, Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PetShopBoys, Music/{{Placebo}}, Music/{{Pulp}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/SimpleMinds, Music/{{Suede}}, Music/TalkTalk, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/ThomasDolby, Music/{{Ultravox}}, Music/AFlockOfSeagulls, Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Bauhaus}}, Music/BlocParty, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/DeadOrAlive, Music/{{Erasure}}, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, Music/FranzFerdinand, Music/JoeJackson, Julian Cope, Music/KateBush, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/LoveAndRockets, Music/TearsForFears, Music/{{Magazine}}, Music/MottTheHoople, Music/{{Muse}}, Naked Eyes, Music/NewYorkDolls, Music/OingoBoingo, Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark, Music/PattiSmith, Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees, Music/SoftCell, Music/SuperFurryAnimals, Supergrass, Music/{{Television}}, Music/TheChurch, Music/TheRunaways, Music/TheSmashingPumpkins, Music/TheSmiths, Music/TheVerve, Thompson Twins, Music/TVOnTheRadio, Music/WangChung, Music/{{Yello}}, Music/AHa, Music/{{Alphaville}}, Music/{{Berlin}}, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/{{Falco}}, Music/{{Felt}}, Music/{{Interpol}}, Music/{{INXS}}, Music/JanesAddiction, Music/LaRoux, Music/ManicStreetPreachers, Music/MarilynManson, Modern English, Music/NineInchNails, Music/ScissorSisters, Music/TheBreeders, Music/{{The Cure|Band}}, Music/ThePsychedelicFurs, Music/TheThe, Music/VampireWeekend, Music/HarryStyles, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/{{Maneskin}}, Music/RedVox...

* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Ziggy Stardust lived up to his name when it came to makeup -- including, on occasion, a glittering circle in the middle of his forehead. Jareth has enough sparkle that, at least at Website/DeviantArt, ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' comparisons/jokes have been made (though the general consensus among fans is that the Goblin King ''glitters'' rather than sparkles).

* WritingAroundTrademarks: Several reissues of Bowie's Creator/RCARecords material on other record labels mimic the original LP labels, but replace the RCA logo due to the inevitable rights issues. A promotional Creator/{{Rykodisc}} release of ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'', which collects both the remastered CD and a mock-RCA LP with [[StylisticSuck added surface noise]], swaps out "RCA" for "RYK," while Creator/{{EMI}}'s 2010-2013 reissues of that album, ''Music/AladdinSane'', and ''Music/StationToStation'' replace it with "BOWIE." Creator/ParlophoneRecords' 2015-2018 reissues of the 1969-1987 catalog, meanwhile, go a step further and uses renderings of "Bowie" in the same style as the original logos, covering Creator/PhilipsRecords, Creator/MercuryRecords, and Creator/EMIAmericaRecords in addition to RCA[[note]]EMI America and Parlophone were originally sister labels, but the dissolution of EMI in 2012 led to Creator/WarnerMusicGroup buying Parlophone, with Creator/UniversalMusicGroup owning the old EMI branding[[/note]]. The technique is also carried over to Bowie's posthumous {{remix album}}s and BoxedSet-exclusive compilations.

By TheNewTens, Bowie was an apparently-retired ReclusiveArtist...until January 8, 2013 (his 66th birthday), when he announced a new album, ''Music/TheNextDay'', and presented its first song and video online. He no longer performed live or granted interviews by that stage. While he would not appear onstage, his next major project ''Lazarus'' (a musical stage play co-written with Enda Walsh, [[InspiredBy inspired by]] the source novel for ''The Man Who Fell to Earth'') was set to debut off-Broadway in late 2015. It was followed by what would turn out to be his final studio album, ''Music/BlackstarAlbum''[[note]] pronounced ''Blackstar'' [[/note]], released on his 69th birthday in January 2016. Two days after its release, Bowie passed away after an eighteen-month battle with liver cancer that he had been keeping secret. Two weeks later, NASA immediately discovered a planet in some other galaxy. You do the math.

+ Music/LittleRichard, Music/BobDylan, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/ScottWalker, Music/SydBarrett, Music/TheBeatles, Music/JohnLennon, Music/TheKinks, Music/VelvetUnderground, Creator/AnthonyNewley, Music/BrianEno, Music/ChuckBerry, Harmonia, Music/ThePrettyThings, The Spinners, Music/TheWho, Music/JacquesBrel, Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, Music/{{Neu}}, Music/KurtWeill, Music/PhilipGlass, Music/{{Love}}, Music/MarcBolan, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/TheStooges, Vince Taylor, Music/AlGreen, Billy Fury, Music/TalkingHeads, Music/{{Devo}}, Music/DonnaSummer, Music/FrankZappa, Music/ThePixies, Music/NineInchNails, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/KendrickLamar...

Notable for [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets keeping his political opinions to himself]] and concentrating on entertainment.[[note]]Well, except during his drug-induced CreatorBreakdown in TheSeventies, when he dabbled in fascism as the Thin White Duke -- as Music/RickJames once said, "[[Series/ChappellesShow Cocaine is a hell of a drug.]]" It is unlikely that Bowie ever held sincere fascist beliefs; he was actually working with a racially integrated band and was inspired by the works of American singer and civil rights activist Music/NinaSimone to record a cover of the song "Wild Is the Wind" during the time he was portraying the Duke, and he later criticised Creator/{{MTV}} for not playing videos by Black artists during the early 1980s. (Also, you know, he would later be happily married to a Muslim Black woman and the proud father of a mixed-race child. If there's one thing that terrifies and repulses actual fascists/racists, it's mixed marriages and the resultant "half breed" children.) Bowie was also openly political in a few of his later songs (and he expressed anti-fascist or anti-racist views in them), though the songs that ''are'' overtly political tend to be overshadowed by his other works.[[/note]] He married Somalian supermodel-actress Iman in 1992, and the couple had a daughter, Alexandria Zahra Jones, in 2000. Via his first marriage to Angela Barnett in TheSeventies, he is also the father of Zowie Bowie, better known these days as Creator/DuncanJones, who made a name for himself as the director of the 2009 sci-fi CultClassic ''Film/{{Moon}}'' and the 2011 techno-thriller ''Film/SourceCode''.

** ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'': Due to a mastering error, the initial US CD release by Creator/RCARecords lops off the first 1.8 seconds of "Beauty and the Beast". Meanwhile, the initial version of the 2017 remaster, included in the BoxedSet ''A New Career in a New Town [1977–1982]'', featured an audible volume drop partway through the TitleTrack. Creator/ParlophoneRecords claimed that it was to obscure irreversible damage on the master tape, but eventually relented after further complaints and included a revised version of the remaster on replacement discs for affected buyers. This fixed version was also incorporated on the standalone CD, LP, and digital releases.