Where was David Bowie born and when?
David Robert Jones was born on the 8th of January 1947 in Brixton, London. His family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, on the boundary between Brixton and Stockwell in the south London borough of Lambeth.
Questions about David Bowie
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How did David Bowie get his stage name?
He adopted the name David Bowie after the 19th-century American pioneer James Bowie and the knife associated with him. Before this, he had performed under Davie Jones and Davy Jones, names that caused confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees in the mid-1960s. His first release under the Bowie name was the January 1966 single "Can't Help Thinking About Me."
What was the Ziggy Stardust character based on?
Bowie described the concept as a melding of his friend Iggy Pop's persona with the music of Lou Reed, producing what he called "the ultimate pop idol." The surname Stardust was a tribute to the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, whose record Bowie received during a 1971 US tour. A girlfriend recalled him scrawling notes on a cocktail napkin about a crazy rock star named Iggy or Ziggy.
What was the Berlin Trilogy?
The Berlin Trilogy refers to three albums Bowie made with producer Tony Visconti and collaborator Brian Eno: Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977), and Lodger (1979). Bowie and Iggy Pop had moved to West Berlin in August 1976 to escape drug addiction and the spotlight. The three albums drew on krautrock and experimental music. Composer Philip Glass later adapted all three into his first, fourth, and twelfth symphonies in 1992, 1997, and 2019.
How did David Bowie die, and what made Blackstar unusual?
Bowie died on the 10th of January 2016, two days after his final studio album Blackstar was released on his 69th birthday. He had been privately diagnosed with liver cancer in mid-2014. Producer Tony Visconti later confirmed that Bowie had planned the album as a deliberate swan song, a parting gift for his fans. Visconti also said Bowie had been planning a follow-up album and had recorded demos of five songs in his final weeks.
What was the Rock Against Racism connection?
Bowie's comments during the 1976 Isolar Tour, in which he was quoted suggesting Britain could benefit from a fascist leader, along with Eric Clapton's alcohol-fueled anti-immigrant tirade the same year, directly contributed to the founding of Rock Against Racism. Bowie later blamed his remarks on cocaine addiction, the Thin White Duke character, and his time in Los Angeles.