#zowie stardust

[darkmoongodess]

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[bodybeautifulbymills]

David Bowie

Bowie never laid out any definitive labels for his gender or sexuality. He walked back his statement to Watts by telling Playboy he was bisexual in 1974, then later in Rolling Stone he declared he had been heterosexual all along. But he never owed us an explanation.

Sukita, M. (1977). David Bowie by Masayoshi Sukita.

David Bowie embodied the fictional character of “Ziggy Stardust” for only about 18 months circa 1972-1973. Yet it’s usually an image of that garishly made up, flamboyantly dressed androgynous creature adorning t-shirts when one thinks of the musician.

While he might have not realized it at the time, Bowie, who died on Jan. 10 after an 18-month battle with cancer, anticipated today’s continuing gender binary dialogue. Besides leaving behind an impressive body of music that rarely was commercial (“Let’s Dance” a notable exception) and mostly experimental, perhaps Bowie’s greatest achievement was opening people’s minds to sexual identity expression.

He clarified his sexuality in a 1993 Rolling Stone interview: “I think I was always a closet heterosexual. I didn’t ever feel that I was a real bisexual. It was like I was making all the moves, down to the situation of actually trying it out with some guys … The irony of it was that I was not gay. I was physical about it, but frankly it wasn’t enjoyable. It was almost like I was testing myself. It wasn’t something I was comfortable with at all. But it had to be done.”

www.youtube.com. (n.d.). David Bowie talks about his sexual orientation. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/zZdNxKkMiRE?si=mEy8vl-7qHy3yTns [Accessed 25 Sep. 2023].

‌He married his first wife Angie in 1970, and she gave birth the next year to their son “Zowie,” and proudly co-parented him during his toddler years. Angie, who he divorced in 1980 at which time David gained sole custody, claims responsibility for his feminine fashion style.

Bowie appeared to be giving fellatio to Mick Ronson’s guitar as he kneeled, gripping the musician’s buttocks, an iconic rock image if there ever was one.

1979 on Saturday Night Live he wore a military uniformed skirt. His backup singers were Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias – dressed in drag. Bowie’s music video for his ironically titled, hysterically funny “Boys Keep Swinging” and its trick cinematography featured himself as his own backup singers, as three different female personas.

Indeed, Lady Gaga learned from Bowie how to get media attention by being outrageous in what she says and what she wears (e.g., dresses made of meat and condoms), was appropriately selected to pay musical tribute to Bowie with a four-song performance at this year’s Grammy Awards in February.

More than five years ago she nearly broke the Internet, regarding a social media rumour that she had a penis: “My fans don’t care if I’m a man, a woman, a hermaphrodite, gay, straight, transgendered, or transsexual. They don’t care! They are there for the music and the freedom. This has been the greatest accomplishment of my life – to get young people to throw away what society has taught them is wrong.”

Segal, C. (2016). David Bowie made androgyny cool, and it was about time. [online] PBS NewsHour. Available at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/david-bowie-made-androgyny-cool-and-it-was-about-time.

[harrisonbrows]

Newborn Zowie with his parents David and Angie Bowie photographed by Ron Burton in 1971.

[davidbowie-blog]

The purest love✨

David and Zowie

[twixnmix]

David Bowie with his wife Angie Bowie and their 3-week-old son Zowie Bowie in Beckenham, England on June 29, 1971. 

Photos by Ron Burton

[wallie-lester-worthington]

#david bowie #tin machine

[knives-out20]

The Impact Of The Intergalactic - David Bowie Opinion Essay - by Beck S.

This is an essay I wrote about the span of David Bowie's career. I wrote it for a summer school course I took last year (August 2021) for a course called History of Rock & Roll.

My teacher gave nice feedback after he marked it, talking about how it was an "Excellent paper. It charts Bowie's progress throughout his career well, and includes significant detail. I could really feel the passion you have about him throughout. In fact, there is *too much* detail! The paper was supposed to be 3 pages max, double-spaced. Still, this is a good problem to have; better too much than too little."

So...enjoy!!

From his early works like Hunky Dory, to Black Tie White Noise in the 1990’s and stretching over to Blackstar as his final album, David Bowie has rarely had a bad album or song- in my opinion. His career has had ups and downs, his musical creations ranging in the way he would pitch his voice and what instruments he would use, the people he would produce with, and the wild things he would say. Charting David Bowie’s development over time is in fact an interesting journey.

Early on in his dreamy career, Bowie would have done nearly anything- or in fact, anyone- to grow in the music world. Hopping from band to band (like The Velvet Underground), producer to producer, doing whatever he could do to get ‘in’ in the industry. His early albums weren’t taken very highly in their times- especially with the ‘man-dress’ he wore on the British release of his The Man Who Sold The World album. Although, this dress was only the start of the androgynous appearance he would soon be known for, over the course of his 5-decade-spanning career.

The 1970’s were strange, to say the least. He married Angela Bowie at the start of the decade, then welcomed their son Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones a year later. Bowie went on to be hopped up on cocaine. David donned the look of one of his famous personas, The Thin White Duke. The same persona with slicked-back ginger hair, a white button-up under a black waistcoat and paired with black dress pants. The same Duke who called Adolf Hitler one of the first ‘rock stars’ and gave off a lot of faschist energy. He said many statements he’d later apologize for and grow as a better man from, which is good- it’s better than standing by then, or even backing himself up and supporting them. David Bowie called that period the darkest days of his life, and blamed the crazy statements on his horrid addiction and deteriorating mental state. The late 1970’s were more favorable, seeing as it gave the world what was dubbed the Berlin Trilogy alongside Brian Eno and David’s personal friend, Iggy Pop. Made up of three of his albums: Low and Heroes (both in 1977) and Lodger (1978). He moved from Los Angeles to Switzerland, then to Berlin as a further decision to escape his addiction (the reason he moved away from LA in the first place). It was in Berlin, of course, where he wrote his famous song Heroes, about two lovers, one from East Berlin and one from West.

Speaking of Berlin, David Bowie performed near the west of the Berlin Wall in 1987; he played so loud that crowds gathered on the east to listen. At this time, Bowie had no idea he would be the beginning of the city’s soon-coming unifying. After his death in 2016, the German government thanked him for bringing the wall down and unifying a divided Germany.

Music isn’t all he is known for, though it is a majority. He also starred in movies from time to time. Being the titular man in The Man Who Fell To Earth in 1976, Jareth the moody goblin king in Jim Henson’s 1986 Labyrinth film (what is most likely his most famous role), Monte the barman in the 1991 movie The Linguini Incident, cameoing as himself in Zoolander (2001), Nikola Tesla in the 2006 movie The Prestige, and even Lord Royal Highness in Spongebob Squarepants’ Atlantis Squarepantis in 2007, among a few others. David Bowie dabbled in the art of acting, and was not that bad at it. He was good enough to gain a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, too. Sometimes it bends my mind that my first introduction to my all-time favourite musician was in a Spongebob Squarepants movie, back before I knew who he was, but David Bowie was never one to shy away from foreshadowing. At least one song from many of his albums would hint at the direction he’d go in for his next release. For example, his track Queen Bitch on Hunky Dory foreshadowed his soon-coming Ziggy Stardust. And the Diamond Dogs track 1984 actually hinted at the Philadelphian soul of Young Americans, which is a more famous song of his, which he went on to perform on The Cher Show with its host.

The 1990’s were certainly an experimental time for David Bowie. But to my knowledge, I think the 1990’s was a time for everyone. He married supermodel Iman some days after performing at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and released the album I named earlier, Black Tie White Noise. It is known to have had a prominent use of electronic instruments, as was his other 1990’s album, Earthling. The early 1990’s greeted David’s first real band since the Spiders From Mars, dubbed Tin Machine. They recorded three guitar-driven albums which received mixed reviews from the masses, but Bowie looks back at this period- as do I- with a certain fondness; “a glorious disaster” he called it, when talking to journalist Mick Brown. Tin Machine is a period I don’t listen to often, compared to his solo stuff, but I don’t press the skip button when it comes on.

Alas, the starman’s career drew to a close as the 2000s rolled in. David Bowie greeted the 2000’s with the birth of his and Iman’s daughter, the beautiful Alexandria Zahra Jones. After suffering a- strange, as it were- heart attack symptoms mid-song during a concert in 2004, he took a hiatus from his career. I say strange because given what I know, he was trying his best to stay healthy at the time. According to my special Rolling Stone edition magazine about David Bowie (released at the start of this year), he was on tour and performing in a really hot arena. But Bowie was sober, and had quit smoking. He was taking medication to lower his cholesterol, and worked out with a trainer. Bowie looked great, and yet he felt a pain in his shoulder and chest, along with a shortness for breath. A bodyguard rushed onstage to usher Bowie off of it, cutting the concert short. He only performed live once or twice after that point, but was set on never going live ever again. And he kept his word on that, unfortunately but also fortunately. Unfortunately, because David Bowie live would have been quite the experience- I wouldn’t know, personally. But fortunately, because I do not believe anyone needs a repeat of the 2004 Reality scare.

I am actually not too fond of speaking of his final years. Nobody really likes to speak of the last years of their idols’ life before their death, so it’s no surprise. Blackstar was David Bowie’s 25th and final album, recorded entirely in secret in New York alongside his long-time producer, Tony Visconti. The album's central theme lyrically is mortality, and seeing as Bowie was undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer at the time, I see it as his way of coping with his incoming death. His producer Tony Visconti called him a ‘canny bastard’, when he realized Bowie was essentially writing a farewell album. Every song on the album is what is considered a swan song, a swan song in question being a phrase for a final gesture of some sort before retirement or death. In this case, death. Over the course of recording the album, David Bowie’s chemotherapy had actually been working and he had an eerie optimism while recording. But by the time they shot the two music videos Blackstar and Lazarus, where he showed off the definite passage of time and cruelty of chemotherapy through sparse and gray hair with sagging skin, he knew his condition was terminal and that this would be a battle he would lose. Blackstar wasn’t the first album to have been made by a musician succumbing to a fatal illness, but in my opinion it is in fact the most beautiful. It’s jazzy, and elegant, showing how at peace he had become with dying.

Blackstar the album was released on January 8th, 2016. Also known as David Bowie’s 69th birthday. Two days later, David Bowie died at his Lafayette Street home on January 10th after living with liver cancer for up to 18 months. Beforehand, he had let it be known he did not want a funeral nor a burial, but rather that his body be cremated and the ashes to be scattered in Bali by his loved ones. His wish was received, and planet Earth was very much bluer and quieter without his colour and wonderful noise.

As I said earlier on, David Bowie’s career came with ups and downs. His mysteriously close relationship with Mick Jagger, his cross with famous underage groupie Lori Maddox, the births of his two talented children, his faschist bender in the 70’s, and final bang of Blackstar in his final year on earth. Through the highs and lows, his career and his music meant a lot to the quote-unquote misfits and freaks of the world, myself included. David Bowie turned and faced the strange, shouted “you’re not alone!” To those who felt the loneliest, he surely spent his career helping those who needed to be themselves, feel more freer and braver in doing so, no matter what they may be when they are themselves. He never went boring, he never went stale, he sang what he wanted and dressed how he pleased, and kept to his word on how much more to life there is when you’re just that; yourself. A year after David Bowie’s untimely passing, his son Duncan Jones accepted an award for British album of the year that was won by Blackstar at the 37th annual Brit Awards. When he accepted it, he made a speech about his father that I will leave here, and never forget. Seeing as it perfectly encapsulates David Bowie’ legacy, and the true meaning of his extraordinary career.

“I lost my dad last year, but I also became a dad. And, uhm, I was spending a lot of time- after getting over the shock- of trying to work out what would I want my son to know about his granddad? And I think it would be the same thing that most of my dad's fans have taken over the last 50 years. That he’s always been there supporting people who think they’re a little bit weird or a little bit strange, a little bit different, and he’s always been there for them. So...this award is for all the kooks, and all the people who make the kooks. Thanks, Brits, and thanks to his fans.” - Duncan Z. H. Jones (February 22 2017, at The O2 Arena in London.)

[naturalbornworldshakers]

Angela, his ‘Prettiest Star,’ was there at the birth of a legend– a dynamic force in David Bowie’s rise to super-stardom. She helped create Ziggy Stardust and gave him a son, Zowie. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPLfJFoFFmT/?utm_medium=tumblr

[hedwigencyclopaedia]

David Bowie (pt. 1)

“…David Bowie—who was actually an idiom working in America and Canada. And now space.” [1]

David Bowie was the stage name of Brixton-born, Bromley-raised David Robert Jones. [2] Born January 8th 1947, Bowie found an early passion for music, encouraged by both his half-brother Terry and his father John. [3] At the age of 13, David learned his first instrument of many with the white plastic saxophone that he helped to pay for.

Before going solo, Bowie joined and formed bands such as: The Konrads (1962), King Bees (1963), later known as Davie Jones and the King Bees [4], The Mannish Boys (1964), The Lower Third (1965), The Buzz (1966), and sang with The Riot Squad (1967). He renamed himself David Bowie in 1965 after actor and Monkee actor Davie Jones became popular enough that using his given name would have led to confusion.

In 1967, David Bowie released his first self titled album, David Bowie. After an initial underwhelming response from both record companies and the general public, he chose to take a short break from music instead taking up dancing, mime, performance art, and acting under the tutelage of Lindsay Kemp. [5, 6]

By 1969, David had returned to music with his second self titled album, David Bowie; later renamed Man of Worlds, Man of Music to avoid confusion. Later still, the album was renamed Space Oddity after its most famous track. “Space Oddity” the song was used for the BBC coverage of the NASA moon landing. [7]

The early 70s saw David releasing two more albums The Man Who Sold the World (1970), an album heavily influenced by his brother’s mental illness [8], and Hunky Dory (1971), which included songs dedicated to Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and his son Duncan, then going by nickname “Zowie.” [9]

Reportedly after a London show at the Friars Aylesbury, where he debuted the newly formed Spiders From Mars, Bowie announced “That was great. And when I come back, I’m going to be completely different.” [5] And with the release of 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, he certainly had. David had embraced the burgeoning glam rock movement creating his own concept album and equally importantly, a very distinctive look that when added to the music and choreography kept audiences engaged beyond listening to his albums and attending concerts.

Ziggy Stardust, both as a character and an album, was geared to make David a star. And his management company MainMan engineered every step along the way to make it seem like he already was. [5, 10]

In advance of Ziggy’s June release David came out in British music magazine Melody Maker as bisexual, notable at the time not only because of the rarity of out musicians, but because homosexuality had been decriminalized only five years previous. [11] After coming out, Bowie continued to play up the bisexual image in the press telling reporters that he and his then-wife Angie had met while sleeping with the same guy [12], kneeling in front of Mick Ronson and playing the musician’s guitar with his teeth in a mock fellatio display [13], and perhaps most tame sounding to a modern audience, wrapping his arm around the same Mick Ronson, implicitly implying that they were in a relationship on national television. [14]

His sexuality also spurred rumors that he was sleeping with Mick Jagger, of the Rolling Stones, [15] and his former teacher Lindsay Kemp. [6]

Following the success of Ziggy, David released Aladdin Sane (1973), which he said was meant to be Ziggy in America and a way for him to move on as “I didn’t want to be trapped in this Ziggy character all my life.” [16]

Bowie famously killed off Ziggy and his Spiders From Mars on their last show at the Hammersmith Odeon July 3rd 1973 announcing “Of all of the shows on this tour, this particular show will remain with us the longest because not only is it…not only is it the last show of the tour, but it’s the last show that we’ll ever do. Thank you. Thank-you very much. Bye-bye. We love you.” [17] The other members of the band did not have forewarning that they were about to be dismissed from Bowie’s employ. [5]

The last Bowie album to be released under the Ziggy persona was 1973’s Pin Ups.

The next era of Bowie’s music was ushered in with 1974’s Diamond Dogs. Originally conceived as an adaptiaton of George Orwell’s 1984, the project was quickly recycled into the dystopian Diamond Dogs set in the fictional Hunger City after Orwell’s widow, Sonia Brownell, rejected the idea out of hand having so hated the 1954 Peter Cushing adaptation of 1984 that she vowed to allow no further adaptations of her late-husband’s work in her lifetime. [18]

Taking a brief break from his new found nihilism, Bowie released 1975’s Young Americans featuring a sound he dubbed “plastic soul” [19] and became one of the first white artists to ever perform on popular US music program Soul Train [20]

[1] HATAI performance. November 25, 2016, Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages

[2] http://www.southlondonguide.co.uk/brixton/davidbowie.htm..

[3] https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/david-bowie-early-years-boy-7159819

[4] https://www.discogs.com/Davie-Jones-And-The-King-Bees-Liza-Jane/release/2785408

[5] Starman by Paul Trunka. 2011. Advanced Galley.

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/obituaries/lindsay-kemp-dead.html

[7] https://auralcrave.com/en/2018/06/07/space-oddity-when-david-bowie-accompanied-the-man-on-the-moon/

[8] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-david-bowie-realized-theatrical-dreams-on-the-man-who-sold-the-world-121178/

[9] Hunky Dory back cover

[10] Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell by Dave Thompson. 2009.

[11] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jan/22/popandrock.davidbowie

[12] https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/david-bowie-icon-thin-white-duke

[13] https://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/photographs/fkxu5I/David-Bowie-and-Mick-Ronson-Guitar-Fellatio-1972

[14] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-bowie-top-of-the-pops_us_5693ff52e4b0cad15e65ac86

[15] https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/new-book-takes-mick-jagger-affair-david-bowie-article-1.1109887

[16] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-america-inspired-david-bowie-to-kill-ziggy-stardust-with-aladdin-sane-230827/

[17] Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1983). Film.

[18] https://www.geni.com/people/Sonia-Brownell/6000000001510497741

[19] https://www.soultracks.com/flashback-soul-david-bowie

[20] https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/01/11/when-david-bowie-played-soul-train/rdRpRG5GHZoinXPnhw7daN/story.html

[dukeoftheblackstar]

The Duke & The Teacher

Despite being David Bowie and the Thin White Duke in this timeline, the only priority he has over his career and goal of upstaging Ziggy Stardust was his son, Zowie. Rehearsals and tours would only be cancelled or rescheduled if crisis related to his son occurred. Otherwise, feeling under the weather, hung over, or begrudgingly caught in any form of public – press trepidation will not hinder his hunger for success and progression. Though his flexibility towards accommodating his son has its limits, the most he could do was have the boy homeschooled in the UK and have a private tutor in the US so he won’t miss out much while on vacation with his father. Another admirable trait for David’s was that he personally tends to most matters relating to his son such as books and movies, toys and trips, and of course, his temporary teacher.

The stretch enters the school ground unscathed from adoring fans that saw him mount the vehicle from his loft. Mark, his trusted driver, escorts David towards the main entrance ensuring that no ray of unforgiving morning sun would scorch his pale ensemble. They arrive before a lobby that asked him for an ID card before instructing them towards the principal’s office for the schedule meeting. He had phoned in ahead of time and asked for a suitable candidate for the summer.

He sat down and politely declined tea and opted for a cup of coffee. Mark pardoned himself and waited at the lobby.

@patiencetaught

[darkmoongodess]

I took my mask off and I fought it begrudgingly but it’s now gone!

I am not High Functioning, I pretend to be! I am autistic! We are a DID system. Trying to learn how to function without a mask!

We are highly intelligent, but we are not able to take care of basic need. Like eating, hygiene, meds etc! But we are working on it! Think of RDJ’s Sherlock.

People compared us to Walt Disney, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Einstein, Hawking, Newton, Libenitz, Comte, Neil Gaiman, JRR Tolkien, Mozart, Bach & David Bowie. Just to name drop a few! (To our main self)!

It took longer than a week to finally come back to ourselves but we feel much better.

My conclusion: we are a 10th dimensional being (all realities meet here and overlap and somehow we can communicate with each other directly, some can take and relinquish control)!

We are however the same person, we switch into modes: Musician, Artist, Performer/Comedian/MC, Boss Bitch, and some of these overlap and some don’t!

The main personality is Boss Bitch, Artist, and writer. But last night we played keyboard and it was 2am when we started and by the time we looked at the clock again it was 5am, but no fucking way did that much time pass!

So obviously musician is on its own mode, separated from the “main” that took control when we needed to escape!

Since we understand all languages spoken, we think receptive multilingualism comes from all the alt modes and we haven’t figured out how to activate speech without training ourselves the specific sentence we want to say fluently!

The weird quirk is we can invent new ones easily! Both written and spoken, but learning how to speak has been conflicting with an aspect of our personality which we concurred in English! We don’t care if we fuq it up in English, we just let the word vomit falls! But when it comes to other languages we halt ourself completely and outright! Insecure about tripping and causing international incidents from saying the wrong catastrophic thing!

We masked to be normal on high alert at all times so that we could join the Army in 2005! We survived for 7 years 11 months and 23 days before we said fuck it and gave up.

We did our best struggling our way to find ourselves again while obtaining our BFA degree in Animation and Visual Effects! We healed a lot of our emotional childhood trauma during our last year (2021)!

And as we struggled to find ourself this year, we put things in the box to be complete at a later date when we were ready for it (this is what we do all the time actually) but now we have ripped off the mask!

We still don’t have a clear definition of ourself but we have a plan on how to make ourselves happy and I’m so excited to finally be free!!

We are on the cusp of losing house and home, starvation and we are happy! Things are about to turn around for the better! We just feel it in our bones 🦴!!

[whenthatchermeetsbowie-blog]

Background

Timeline

1947 David Robert Hayward-Jones was born. 1953 Familie moved to ‘Bromley’. 1959 David received his first saxophone for Christmas. 1962 First band ‘The Konrads’. Beaten on his eye that creates color difference in his eye. 1966 Changed his name to David Bowie. 1967 First album: David Bowie. 1969 Album ‘Space Oddity’ inspired by the movie ‘A Space Odyssey’. He met Angie Barnett. 1970 3th album ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. David Bowie takes an androgyne look. 1971 Album ‘Hunky Dory’. Married Angie, son Zowie was born. 1972 Rock/alien alter ego ‘Ziggy Stardust’ was born. Explained he’s bisexual in magazine Melody Maker'. Album ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’. 1973 David Bowie stops with Ziggy Stardust. Album ‘Aladdinsane’ & ‘Pin Ups’. 1974 Album ‘Diamond Dogs’. 1975 Glamrock alter ego has gone, new way to soul and R&B. Album ‘Young Americans’. 1976 Film ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth (David Bowie leads). Saturn award for best actor. New Identity/alter ego ‘Thin White Duke’. Album ‘Station to station’. 1977 Collaboration with John Lennon. Album ‘Heroe’s’. 1979 Album ‘Lodger’. 1980 Album ‘Scary Monsters And Super Creeps’. David Bowie and Angie divorced. 1983 David Bowie reached the ‘mainstream’ public. Top hits: Modern love & China girl. Post-Disco album ‘Let’s Dance’. 1984 Album ‘Tonight’. Hit ‘Blue Jean’, David Bowie is known for his combinations in music/film/theater. Film ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’. 1986 Film ‘Absolute Beginners’. Film ‘Labyrinth’. 1987 Album ‘Never Let Me Down’. 1989 Album & collaboration ‘Tin Machine’. 1990 Sound and vision tour. 1992 Married model/man Abdulmajid. 1993 Album ‘Black Tie White Noise’. 1995 Album ‘Outside’. 1997 David Bowie turned 50. Album ‘Earthling’. David Bowie gets a star on the ‘Walk Of Fame’. 1999 Album ‘Hours’. 2000 Birth of his daughter Alexandra 2003 Top albums ‘Reality’ & ‘Heathen’. 2013 Song ‘Stars Are Out Tonight’. Onverwacht album ‘The Next Day’. 2014 Wint Brit award for ‘best male’. 2016 Album ‘Blackstar’. On 10 January died.

Source: stylebook research Marileen Bouman

General information

Born in Brixton (London) on januari 8 in 1947. His family moved to Bromley when he was six years old. He is an English musician, artist and actor. He changed his name to David Bowie in 1966 because he didn't want people to compare him with Davy Jones from the band 'The Monkies'. When David was in the mand 'The King-Bees' he named himself David Jones.

In 1972 he broke through for the first time with the album 'The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars'. He created an alter ego named Ziggy Stardust. A androgynous, colorful and unusual appearance. Ziggy Stardust was the beginning of the glam-rock scene.

When Ziggy Stardust stopped Bowie created a new alterego as countermovement. Thin White Duke; skinny, smooth, stylish and more casual. This look went along with the album 'Station to Station' in 1976.

David Bowie is famous for continue changing his style. He also adds several disciplines such as music, fashion, theater and film toghether which always creates something unique. He can analyse trends and dictate them. This has resulted in many top albums, movies, art and theaterplays. He was a big influence in the 70s till now, even after his dead.

Relationships

After different short relationships David met Angie (Angela Barnett) in 1969. They had an open relationship. After a year they got married and in 1971 they had a son named Zowie. Later he changed his name to Jones. The marriage was still 'open' and had a lot of ups and downs. Angie was very depressed and once tried to commit suicide. This let to a divorce in 1980 and David got the custody of Zowie. David had after Angie different short relationships. He met a model in 1990 (Iman Abdulmajid) who he married two years later. In august 2000 they had a daughter named Alexandria.

Family

David Bowie was the son of John and Peggy. His father died in 1969 days after he won the award for best produced record for 'When i live my dream'. David his breakthroguh still had to come but his parents were really proud of him.

David had a half-brother; Terry Burns. They were really close. Terry joined the army in 1956. When he came back he inspired David with different kinds of music and let David see the life outside Bromley (jazz and r&b). At the age of 29 Terry had symptomps of the disease schizophrenia, a disease very common in the family. He was admitted to an institution and tried to commit suicide several times. He succeeded in januari 1985. David was broken about it and later on he wrote a song about it; 'Jump they sey'.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20944291

PERSONALITY

For the personality research we looked at the different characters he has made through the years. After that we will make a conclusion of his personality also in mind that he changes himself all the time.  

Man Who Sold The World

Much of The Man Who Sold the World had a distinct heavy metal edge that distinguishes it from Bowie's other releases, and has been compared to contemporary acts such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Source: http://ziggy.mybluemix.net/static/personality.html?persona=Man%20Who%20Sold%20The%20World

Lyrics song ‘Man Who Sold The World’.

We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes I thought you died alone, a long long time ago Oh no, not me I never lost control You're face to face With The Man Who Sold The World I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here We must have died alone, a long long time ago Who knows? not me We never lost control You're face to face With the Man who Sold the World

Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/davidbowie/themanwhosoldtheworld.html

It was his third album "The Man Who Sold The World" that characterised a wholly different sound for him. The heavy rock sound was a marked departure from his folksy overtones and saw him promote the album extensively. It was during these promotions that Bowie’s androgynous appearance was first capitalised upon. The original British cover saw Bowie in a dress, one that he often sported during promotional interviews. His androgynous avatar was hugely popularised and Bowie went on to tease his fans about his perceived bisexuality. Reams have been written back in the day of his sexual preferences, quotes that he himself has later debunked. I never could quite get my head around why he’d do that but it set the notion that if anyone could promote androgyny with such sass, it had to be Bowie. Source: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/remembering-remembering-david-bowie-the-man-who-sold-the-world-the-finest-saddest-strangest-and-most-beautiful-freak-show-itll-ever-see-bowie-a-man-whose-music-was-as-metaphorically-schizophrenic-2578976.html

The third studio album by Bowie (in England only in 1971 appeared to meet an alternative hoes, Taking full use is made of the androgynous appearance of the singer - see above) is regarded as an early example of glam rock. The Man Who Sold The World was a Pretty dark plate, which alone was evident in the lyrics. So All The Madmen treats a theme that's coming back more often in his songs: insanity. Bowie GAF later than ook toe HE THAT song was written more than are tragic half-brother Terry Burns, die suffered from schizophrenia and himself 25 years later in life deprived door himself door to let a train run over. Source: http://classicrockmag.nl/classicrockfacts/45-jaar-tmwstw/

1971: Bowie's Three Musketeers Phase

David Bowie is noted for being one of the most sexually open and promiscuous stars ever on-stage. Bowie sampled everyone: his managers, assistants, groupies, other musicians, stars, models, you name it. He and his first wife Angie Bowie had an open relationship and a penchant for throwing orgies at their house on Oakley Street in London that still shocks the neighborhood decades later. Source: http://allday.com/post/909-the-many-faces-of-david-bowie/

The world stood still when David Bowie died on January 10th. Bowie is considered a musical genius, especially since he reinvented himself time and again. He switched regularly by genre, by immersing themselves in it thoroughly and give a complete twist. Creative as he was, he stretched himself in every new musical period a totally new alter ego. Include name, clothing, way of talking and moving. Anyone else would be of acute schizophrenic, but David Bowie was a way to express how versatile he was. Are anything but mainstream characters fell in and worked very refreshing among all the other artists. The best known is probably Ziggy Stardust from the early 70s, a man / alien with bright red hair. Thereafter, among others followed the androgynous Aladdin Sane, the timeless dandy The Thin Duke and Bowie in tight suit "Lets dance" a megahit sang in the eighties. All of these transformations had a large influence. On the fashion world and on society. Were his alter egos and are inspiring for major designers. Miu Miu, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior, Paul Smith; all of them came in the last few years with a collection that was inspired by one of his characters. He has his androgynous characters as early as the seventies opened doors for transgenders. Without David Bowie no Caitlyn Jenner, we want to say. Source: Viva 26 January 2016

Androgen (no gender)

Long flowing locks, high cheekbones and soft lines; These were the elements that David Bowie his androgynous look was complete for the release of his third album, The Man Who Sold The World. For the British album cover he put on a dress, which he later did wear during interviews and in public. It earned him mixed reactions. His early glam rock and gender-bending style during his Hunky Dory album (think bell-bottom jeans and fur) underlying his alter ego Ziggy Stardust in 1972.

Source: https://fashionunited.nl/nieuws/mensen/david-bowie-de-dood-van-een-mode-icoon/2016011125349

Conclusion: This period relates to his album ‘Man Who Sold The World’. With every new music album he switched style, name, way of talking and moving. He creates a new personality with every new album. Long hair, high cheekbones and soft lines, these were elements for his androgynous look for this album.

What do people think about him? It was new, something they didn’t seen before. What inspired him? Miu Miu, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Dior and Paul Smith.

What are the characteristics of this personality? Long hair, high cheekbones and soft lines.

Ziggy Stardust (1972)

The most famous and complete concept that David Bowie created. With this look he was one of the founders of the glam-rock scene. The album is a story about an alien (Ziggy) who in human form the message of hope brings. Ziggy stands for the definition rockstar, sexual promiscuous and wildly on drugs but with a message of peace and love.

'They were different, they were weird' – someone talking about David Bowie and his band.

The idea for the 'look' came from an fascination and an interest in music and theater. The songs came from Bowie's brain, obsessed with space, Japanese culture and fame. He wasn't shy to talk about his inspiration.

'I'm a collector and I collect personalities and ideas'. – David Bowie

He wanted to change the music industry because he thought it was boring.

It took months to develop each members image. People really thought Bowie and his band came from Mars. It was fantasy.

Bowie was going trough a spiritual awakening but was acting it out through the medium of Ziggy. People didn't want to interview Bowie but Ziggy. He was an actor.

'He created a monster and had to kill it, he couldn't be Ziggy Stardust for the rest of his life' – someone talking about Bowie killing Ziggy.

What are the characteristics of his personality? Androgyne – Weird – Open – Imaginative

What inspired him? Fascination and interest in music and theatre, obsessed with space, Japanese culture and fame.

What do people think about him? A weird rockstar

What is his vision here? Be weird, the music industry is boring.

Aladdin sane

Rest in peace, Ziggy Stardust – long live Aladdin Sane. Just a year after seducing the world with the saga of Ziggy, Bowie killed him off to invent a new glam character – a much darker one, with a new hairstyle and a lightning bolt painted over his face. "There was a point in '73 where I knew it was all over," Bowie said. "I didn't want to be trapped in this Ziggy character all my life. And I guess what I was doing on Aladdin Sane, I was trying to move into the next area – but using a rather pale imitation of Ziggy as a secondary device. In my mind, it was Ziggy Goes to Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America.”

Aladdin Sane is a harder, nastier, gaudier album than Ziggy Stardust, written on the road and immersed in the decadence and sleaze of American culture. Each song on the LP is listed with the place that supposedly inspired it: "Watch That Man" in New York, "Drive-In Saturday" in Seattle and Phoenix, "Cracked Actor" in L.A., "Lady Grinning Soul" back in London. But everywhere he goes, he sees cheap sex and cheaper drugs. Now that he'd hustled his way into the American limelight, he wasn't sure he liked it.

Aladdin Sane is the sixth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records on 13 April 1973. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album he wrote and released from a position of stardom.

What inspired him? After his Ziggy Stardust character he inspired himself to invent a new darker glam character. He was also inspired by the dirty American culture

What are the characteristics of this personality? Gloomy, Uncertain

BRON 1:  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-america-inspired-david-bowie-to-kill-ziggy-stardust-with-aladdin-sane-20160413

BRON 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_Sane

Thin White Duke

Wiki https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_White_Duke

The Thin White Duke was David Bowie's persona and character, primarily identified with his album Station to Station and mentioned by name in the title track, although Bowie had begun to adopt the 'Duke' persona during the preceding Young Americans tour and promotion. The persona's look and character are somewhat based on Thomas Jerome Newton, the titular humanoid alien played by Bowie in the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

At first glance, the Thin White Duke appeared more "normal" than Bowie's previously flamboyant glam incarnations. Wearing a simple and impeccably stylish, cabaret-style wardrobe consisting of a white shirt, black trousers, and a waistcoat, the Duke was a hollow man who sang songs of romance with an agonised intensity while feeling nothing, "ice masquerading as fire".[1] The persona has been described as "a mad aristocrat",[2]”an amoral zombie",[3] and "an emotionless Aryan superman". Bowie himself described the character as "A very Aryan, fascist type; a would-be romantic with absolutely no emotion at all but who spouted a lot of neo-romance."

The Thin White Duke was a controversial figure. While being interviewed in the persona in 1975 and 1976, Bowie made statements about Adolf Hitler and fascism that some interpreted as being positive or even pro-fascist. The controversy deepened in May 1976 when, while acknowledging a group of fans outside of London Victoria station, he was photographed making what some alleged to be a Nazi salute. Bowie denied this, saying that he was simply waving and the photographer captured his image mid-wave. As early as 1976, Bowie began disavowing his allegedly pro-Fascist comments and said that he was misunderstood. In an interview that year in the Daily Express, he explained that while performing in his various characters, "I'm Pierrot. I'm Everyman. What I'm doing is theatre, and only theatre... What you see on stage isn't sinister. It's pure clown. I'm using myself as a canvas and trying to paint the truth of our time on it. The white face, the baggy pants - they're Pierrot, the eternal clown putting over the great sadness."In 1977 (after retiring the persona), Bowie stated that "I have made my two or three glib, theatrical observations on English society and the only thing I can now counter with is to state that I am NOT a Fascist".

In later years, Bowie called the period from late 1974 until early 1977 which culminated in his Thin White Duke persona "the darkest days of my life" due to his "astronomical" cocaine usage. He blamed his erratic behaviour and fascination with Nazi and occult symbols during that time on his precarious drug-addled mental state, and he claimed that he did not even remember recording Station to Station in 1976."I was out of my mind, totally crazed."As his drug habit ate away at his physical and mental health, Bowie attempted to reduce his cocaine intake and phase out the Thin White Duke persona, whom he had come to see as "a nasty character indeed", and later, "an ogre". He left Los Angeles and settled in West Berlin in late 1976. He would live there for almost two years, moving on from the Thin White Duke era both musically and personally with his "Berlin Trilogy" albums (Low, "Heroes", and Lodger) in collaboration with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti. >

Book: David Bowie Style

> Chapter 4: Diamond Dog to Thin White Duke

If Ziggy was about the blaze of a new star and Aladdin Sane his fall from the heights, the Thin White Duke represented the emptied shell of the man left in the aftermath.

Still this was a period where he became very famous hanging with people like John Lennon and Elizabeth Taylor.

The Duke was a man struggling to experience his own emotions, existing in an amoral zone of numbed feeling. Once more, the boundary between the artist and his creation became unstable, with Bowie's drug consumption and minimal food intake a recipe likely to send any individual into fraught mental state. His Restricted diet also meant that Bowie appeared skeletal – spectral almost – with translucent skin stretched over razor-sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes.

Like a torch singer lit by a dying candle, the Duke was, in Bowie's own words very 'Berlin-esque', conjuring up elements of the underground nightclubs that had existed in the city during the 20s and 30s. Like Berlin at that time, the Duke was a character on the edge of catastrophe. Bowie's dark aesthetic during this incarnation reflected both that previous era and the 70s, when economic stagnation in the west was rife and civil unrest seemed to be inevitable. The colorful blaze of Ziggy's rise was now brought fully back to earth and the Thin White Duke embodied the dark trauma of a burnt-out star.

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What do people think about him?

David Bowie was very populair and tried to make it in America. With friends like John Lennon and interesting music he became very populair. But because he made pro-fascist statements linked with persons like Hitler people became very critical on him. Later he explained that he was mentally ill and this was actually the worst time of his life because of drug problems. This period was a very dark period in his life and this character is kind of the translation of this. The opposite of the colorful Ziggy Stardust. “Thin White Duke embodied the dark trauma of a bunt-out star”.

What inspired him?

Thomas Jerome Newton, a character that he played in the movie: The man who fell to earth. This movie was also an inspiration for him because he always had a link with the unknown and alien things.

He also was using a lot of drugs and later even claimed that he did not know anything of the recordings anymore.

What was his vision here?

I don't think he really had a vision in this period of his life. He made different statements that people called 'Fascistic' but he said later that he is not and that he was using so much drugs that he didn't think clearly. But because it was a very dark period I am sure he had dark thoughts about life but there are no facts about that.

What are the characteristics of this personality?

Fascist/ Controversial/ Numbed emotions/ Emotionless/ Unstable/ Empty/ Lonely/ Depressed

Top 3: Emotionless/ Depressed/ Unstable

Berlin Bowie moved to Switzerland in 1976, purchasing a chalet in the hills to the north of Lake Geneva. In the new environment, his cocaine use decreased and he found time for other pursuits outside his musical career. He devoted more time to his painting, and produced a number of post-modernist pieces. When on tour, he took to sketching in a notebook, and photographing scenes for later reference. Visiting galleries in Geneva and the Brücke Museum in Berlin, Bowie became, in the words of biographer Christopher Sandford, "a prolific producer and collector of contemporary art. Not only did he become a well-known patron of expressionist art: locked in Clos des Mésanges he began an intensive self-improvement course in classical music and literature, and started work on an autobiography.” 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie#1976.E2.80.931979:_Berlin_era

When Bowie moved from Los Angeles to Berlin in late 1976, he’d been on the edge of physical and mental collapse. At first, he fell back on old habits, cruising around the divided city with flatmate Iggy Pop, drinking KöPi at Joe’s Beer House, stumbling into gutters and transvestite bars, clubbing at the Dschungel and the Unlimited. One night, Iggy sat in the passenger seat as Bowie rammed their dealer’s car again and again, for five crazed minutes. He then drove around their hotel’s underground car park, pushing 70mph, screaming above the screech of the tyres that he wanted to end it all by driving into a concrete wall. Until his car ran out of fuel and the two friends collapsed in hysterics. He realised his goal was not simply to find a new way of making music, but rather to reinvent – or to come back to – himself. He no longer needed to adopt characters to sing his songs. He found the courage to throw away the props, costumes and stage sets. By the summer of 1977, Bowie was on a creative high. With producer Tony Visconti and friend Brian Eno, he began to make a new album. Over long sessions in the studio, he ate almost nothing, sailing home to Hauptstraße with Eno at dawn, breaking a raw egg into his mouth, and sleeping a few hours before returning to the studio. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/13/david-bowie-berlin-years-heroes-just-a-gigolo

Interview with David Bowie about his time in Berlin.

Many reasons have been suggested for moving to Berlin: the local art and music scene, to escape superstardom, for spiritual and physical detox - plus the creative stimulation of being in an isolated, edgy, divided city. Are these theories accurate? Can you remember why the city appealed?

db: Life in LA had left me with an overwhelming sense of foreboding. I had approached the brink of drug induced calamity one too many times and it was essential to take some kind of positive action. For many years Berlin had appealed to me as a sort of sanctuary like situation. It was one of the few cities where I could move around in virtual anonymity. I was going broke; it was cheap to live. For some reason, Berliners just didn't care. Well, not about an English rock singer anyway.

Since my teenage years I had obsessed on the angst ridden, emotional work of the expressionists, both artists and film makers, and Berlin had been their spiritual home. This was the nub of Die Brucke movement, Max Rheinhardt, Brecht and where Metropolis and Caligari had originated. It was an art form that mirrored life not by event but by mood. This was where I felt my work was going. My attention had been swung back to Europe with the release of Kraftwerk's Autobahn in 1974. The preponderance of electronic instruments convinced me that this was an area that I had to investigate a little further.

Source: http://www.bowiewonderworld.com/features/dbuncut.html

David Bowie: The Berlin Briefings is a collection of resurfaced interviews, featuring guest appearances from friends, producers, and his then-roommate, Iggy Pop. Bowie talks candidly about living with Pop in Berlin in the late ’70s, and what ended up being an incredibly refreshing, productive era for both of them. Their time in Germany was a mental and creative vacation, the chance for them to get away from a heavy drug scene and the weight of being famous in America. This is when Bowie created what is referred to as his “Berlin Trilogy”: Low (1977), “Heroes” (1977), and Lodger (1979). Meanwhile, Pop churned out two iconic albums of his own in 1977: Lust for Life and The Idiot.  “I knew I had to get to an environment that was totally different to Los Angeles, so I thought of the most arduous city that I could think of,” Bowie said in his 1977 interview with the CBC. “And it was West Berlin.” Source: http://www.spin.com/2016/06/daily-deal-rare-collection-of-interviews-with-david-bowie-and-iggy-pop/

Conclusion: In Berlin David Bowie learned a lot about himself. He moved to Berlin because of different reasons but the main reason was to kick off from drugs (cocaine). He said Berlin was a creative vacation, the change for him to get away from a heavy drug scene and the weight of being famous in America. He realised his goal was not simply to find a new way of making music, but rather to reinvent himself. He no longer needed to adopt characters to sing his songs. He lived in Berlin for 3 years and beside music he started painting.Wa

Pierrot (1980)

Also known as the Blue Clown (cover of the Scary Monsters album). David wanted to be the most beautiful clown of the circus.

'I'm Pierrot, I'm everyman, what I'm doing is theatre, it's pure clown. I'm using myself as a canvas and trying to paint the truth of our time'. – David Bowie.

Bowie studied theatre and mime and played a role in a theatre production Pierrot in Turquise. He turned into Pierrot in his music video Ashes to Ashes.

The song is about his past with drugs. In the song he says that if you want to accomplish something you have to say away from drugs. The struggle with his past, dark side, lonely and lost.

What are the characteristics of his personality?

Realistic – strong

What inspired him?

His past with druguse, things his mother once said to him.

What do people think about him?

Fairytalelike

What is his vision here?

Be realistic, tell the truth, no more hiding.

Modern Love

"Modern Love" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie. It was the opening track to his fifteenth studio album Let's Dance. It was issued as the third single from the album in 1983.

Bowie claimed the song was inspired by Little Richard, and it maintains the album's theme of a struggle between God and man. The line "Get me to the church on time" from the lyrics is the title of the same-named tune from My Fair Lady. By the time "Modern Love" was issued and edited as a single, Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour was underway. The single reached No. 2 in the UK, and No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

As a video, “Modern Love” is as straightforward as it gets, especially compared to the others Bowie did that year, “China Girl” and “Let’s Dance.” That could be because Yukich, even though he was Capitol/EMI’s in-house director at the time, was still a newcomer to directing music videos, but it more likely reflects the sudden success of “Modern Love.”

It has less to do with the video and more to do with the song: As art-damaged as Bowie liked to be, he could sling straight-forward rave-ups with the best of ’em, and “Modern Love” is basically one long hook, which perhaps obscures the anxiety about faith—in both the almighty and relationships—at the song’s core. Few pop songs can pull off sing-alongs to the lyrics “God and man, no religion.”

What inspired him?

The song was inspired by Little Richard and the head theme of the whole album was the struggle between God and man.

What are the characteristics of this personality?

Enchanting,

BRON 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Love_(song)

BRON 2: http://www.avclub.com/article/modern-love-david-bowie-mixed-modern-timeless-230645

Earthling (1992)

Is the name of the album strongly affected by electronic music and inspired by the industrial- drum and bass culture of the 90s. Intensity of agression. The album was an attempt to producte some really dynamic aggressive soundings. A texture diary of the earlier years.

'balance, mental, with the way I live and my downfall' – David Bowie

Embrace his outsider-status. The music matters the most.

The real Bowie came forward in the 90s

What are the characteristics of his personality?

Calm – Creative – Spiritual

What inspired him?

The electronic music and drum and bass culture of the 90s

What do people think about him?

Reborn, the real Bowie is coming foward.

What is his vision here?

Music matters the most. BRON ziggy stardust http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/star-man-the-story-of-bowies-ziggy-stardust-763290

BRON ziggy stardust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars

BRON pierrot http://dangerousminds.net/comments/pierrot_in_turquoise_david_bowies_little-known_first_theatrical_appearance_

BRON pierrot http://culturedarm.com/pierrot/

Lazarus

Lazarus is a character and single of David Bowie's last album 'Blackstar'. In the clip of the single you can see him with a mask in a hospital bed. The single opens with the lyrics: 'Look up here, I am in heaven'. A lot of discussion started when he died, did he organize the album around his death? The answer is probably yes.

Research

Wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_(David_Bowie_song)

"Lazarus" is a song by English rock musician David Bowie. It was released on 17 December 2015 as a digital download, making it the second single from his twenty-fifth studio album, Blackstar (2016), as well as Bowie's last single released before his death on 10 January 2016. The single received its world premiere on BBC Radio 6 Music’s Steve Lamacq on the day of its release as a single. In addition to its release on Blackstar, the track is used in Bowie's off-Broadway musical of the same name. The official music video, directed by Johan Renck, was released on 7 January 2016, three days before Bowie's death.

The video was directed by Johan Renck (who also directed the music video for Bowie's previous single, "Blackstar") in November 2015; during the week of shooting, doctors reportedly informed Bowie the cancer was terminal and that they were ending treatment. The filming location was a studio in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The video is shown in a 1:1 aspect ratio and prominently features Bowie, appearing with a bandage and buttons sewn over his eyes as in the "Blackstar" video, lying on a deathbed.

Telegraph UK

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/16/david-bowies-last-release-lazarus-was-parting-gift-for-fans-in-c/

“David Bowie's final record was a carefully-orchestrated farewell to his fans, his producer has confirmed.”

“Tony Visconti, the producer who worked with Bowie to complete his final album, has released a statement saying it was deliberately created and timed as a "parting gift" for his fans.”

"His death was no different from his life - a work of Art.”

Wiki 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_David_Bowie

Bowie's final album, Blackstar—styled as ★ on the cover—was heavily analysed following his death, and numerous supposed clues about Bowie's fate were discussed. The album's second single "Lazarus" includes the lyrics "Look up here, I'm in heaven/I've got scars that can't be seen", which appeared in numerous news publications after his death. The album's title was also believed to have symbolised death; it is the name given to a cancerous lesion, as well as the term for the transitional state between a collapsed star and a singularity. It is also reminiscent of the name of a little-known song about death by one of Bowie's musical idols, Elvis Presley, which features the lyrics "When a man sees his flaming star, he knows his time has come". A tumblr account which seemingly included images replicated in the yet-to-be-released video for "Lazarus" was speculated to have been created by Bowie, and these images—Bowie retreating into a wooden cupboard, and writing with a skull on his desk—seemed to many to symbolise Bowie's imminent death.

Other lyrics were also scrutinised; the track "Dollar Days", for example, featured the line, "Don't believe for just one second I'm forgetting you/I'm trying to/I'm dying to". The title and refrain of the album's final track, "I Can’t Give Everything Away", was believed by some commentators to refer to Bowie keeping his imminent fate private whilst hinting at it throughout the album, while its use of the harmonica solo from "A New Career In A New Town"—an instrumental track on Bowie’s 1977 album Low which refers to his move to Berlin—was considered a reference to Bowie beginning another new phase of his life. The track "Girl Loves Me", another example, features the line, "Where the fuck did Monday go?", which some listeners believe eerily predicted the death of Bowie on Sunday, therefore missing Monday.

Lyrics Lazarus

Look up here, I'm in heaven

I've got scars that can't be seen

I've got drama, can't be stolen

Everybody knows me now

Look up here, man, I'm in danger

I've got nothing left to lose

I'm so high it makes my brain whirl

Dropped my cell phone down below

Ain't that just like me?

By the time I got to New York

I was living like a king

There I'd used up all my money

I was looking for your ass

This way or no way

You know, I'll be free

Just like that bluebird

Now, ain't that just like me?

Oh, I'll be free

Just like that bluebird

Oh, I'll be free

Ain't that just like me?

> The lyrics shows a lot of this last period of his life. He is talking about his death, what he accomplished and a dark time in his life. He also makes clear that this was his way of ending his life, with a last album, he is free!

Billboard

http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/6836029/david-bowie-blackstar-album-review

Blackstar is its own strange, perverse thing, the ­latest move in a boundlessly ­unpredictable career. Bowie turns 69 on its release date, Jan. 8, yet he remains as ­committed to novelty as ­anyone in pop. He also remains a ­powerful and effective singer, ­displaying the full range of his tricks on Blackstar -- ­whispering, ­warbling, ­shrieking and ­dropping into his most romantic baritone-Bowie croon to deliver lyrics like "I want eagles in my ­daydreams and diamonds in my eyes." That line is one of the more ­hopeful on a ­discomfiting record, an album that keeps you riveted even when -- ­especially when -- it creeps you out

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What do people think about him?

After this album and his death Bowie became a real legend. People had a lot of respect for his way of handling his death and said that he was a real artist that kept singing and working until the end. He also became more famous then he already was, who didn't know him yet know him now because social media exploded after he died. He has so many skills. Singing/ acting etc., he uses it all to express himself.

What inspired him?

Because this was the last period of his life I think he was mainly inspired by death, everything he did and was always inspired of, like space and the alien. I think he also wanted to make a last statement, that he is a blackstar, scared but in peace.

What was his vision here?

I think that his vision also links with death. He has peace with it and believes he is in heaven.

What are the characteristics of this personality?

Peacefull/ Satisfied/ Strong

> Important is that he really wanted to show that he was a star. He made a statement with his death, he surprised everyone, again.

Conclusion personality

What we particularly noticed that he actually is a kind of all-rounder, which changed constantly. Adjusts how he feels at certain moments, which were created different characters. Who are seen as characters but David Bowie sees itself as part of what he is. He pushes the boundaries, he is always looking for innovation. He has known a lot of emotion swings during his characters.

VALUES + BELIEVE

Quotes Bowie:

“I don’t know where I’m going but I promise it won’t be boring”

“I always had the repulsive need to be something more than human”

Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zri74q3HDDY

David Bowie: “I was just always looking for expending.. I didn't really know what, but experience new things”.

“Being characterized is like being trapped for me .. Nothing in this world is a real reality, it's not something you can hold on to”.

Values:

Individualistic

Innovative

Experimental

MUSIC

What genre is David Bowies music?

While many late rock stars are rightly saluted for their influence and impact, Bowie

occupies a higher historical tier entirely. He's not just an influential rocker. He's not merely one of the most influential rockers. Among rock stars, Bowie influenced more musical genres than anyone else, living or dead. He is, in that respect, the most influential rock star.

Let's run through this. Obviously, no one is going to question how essential he was to glam rock. While The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars and Aladdin Sane ensured his long-term career and infamy, glam rock as a genre owes him just as much. If Bowie hadn't gone glam, history would remember it as a goofy, cute curiosity -- a sub-genre full of wacky fashion and frothy pop songs, but producing no serious content (apart from one or two T. Rex albums, depending on your taste). Most glam rockers are remembered as that -- glam rockers. Bowie, however, produced two albums squarely within the style while simultaneously transcending it. The aforementioned titles aren't simply glam classics -- they're rock classics. They're singer-songwriter classics. They are, simply put, works of art.

In the industrial rock realm, Bowie's impact can't be underplayed: It's impossible to imagine Trent Reznor or Marilyn Manson having substantial careers without Bowie paving the way for them. And when grunge replaced pop-metal as the go-to genre for rebellious teenagers, Bowie was once again a touchstone.

Bowie's various personas have had an impossible-to-overstate influence on teenage minds since the early '70s -- and he will probably continue to inspire personal artistry and nonconformity until long after all of us are dead. Even the idea that one person can have multiple personas and creative identities --- and still remain authentic with all of them -- is something Bowie pioneered. So in that way, Bowie truly is and will remain a peerless rock star -- someone whose music, style and outlook impacted the world in ways no one else did.

Most important genres:

- Glam rock

- Art rock

-        Pop rock

Most important features:

-        Musical cameleon

-        Big influence on multiple genres

When did Bowies music became iconic?

Bowies first attempt at being a solo artist failed miserably. A big amount of singles, including his debut album, became a flop. However, with the single Space Oddity he broke through. This song about walking in space was right in time, since in the same year (1969) mankind set foot on the moon for the first time.

After that Bowie made the alter ego Ziggi Stardust, in which he played with an androgynous appearance. He looked like an alien that could have been either man or woman. He and Marc Bolan were the inventors of Glam Rock.

Is his work a representation of the zeitgeist?

When more and more artist got a look like he did, Bowie decided to let his persona die. He moved to the VS to record a soule number (Young Americans). Bowie has always been a true musical cameleon. He never kept only one music genre and went on with the time spirit. He also did a lot of collaborations with different artist which already were famous or became famous because of him. Rather than as a musician, it’s in Bowie wholly embodying the idea that creativity is an art that must be done with an unwavering devotion to an ultra-aware introspection, and that your spiritual essence is the canvas upon which your best work deserves to be shown is what makes him impressive. Even further, I’d venture to say that this is what allows him to stand as one of the most dominant and zeitgeist controlling creative masters across all mediums of art, ever.

What were his inspirations? Terry Burns, his half-brother, introduced him to modern jazz, his enthusiasm for players like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane led his mother to give him a plastic alto saxophone in 1961; he was soon receiving lessons from a local musician. If you look at the early songs from Bowie's hands, you will see "Song for Bob Dylan" from Hunky Dory (this song is a play on words – Dylan wrote a song to his source of inspiration: "Song for Woody Guthrie"!). Also note the reference to John Lennon in "Life On Mars" from the same album. Later, on the Young Americans album, Bowie duetted with Lennon on "Fame".

David Bowie also liked Bruce Springsteen's work  – and this dates back to before Springsteen became a superstar. He covered "Growin' Up" and "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" – both songs are from Springsteen's debut album Greetings From Asbury Park. See the article Bowie meets Springsteen for the story of how the two singers eventually met. Roy Bittan from the E Street Band ended up playng piano on several of Bowie's albums.

David Bowie was also openly inspired by Iggy & The Stooges and by The Velvet Underground. Not surprisingly, David Bowie and Iggy Pop became friends – and Bowie produced Lou Reed's Transformer.

CONCLUSIE

- Most important genres:

-   Glam rock

-   Art rock

-      Pop rock

-  Musical cameleon

-  Big influence on multiple (rock and pop) genres

- He smartly combined the lyrics of his songs with social events (For example the song Space Oddity. First men on the moon in that same year).

-  He was one of the most dominant and zeitgeist controlling creative masters across all mediums of art(music), ever. - Inspired by people more than materials

- All of his albums tell a different story(concepts, new identity) - Experimental - Lyrics were personal

Art

David Bowie had studied art and started collecting paintings very early on. Art was the only thing he ever wanted to own. He had to wait till the mid 90’s to get recognition for his own paintings. This because of his fear for failure and thus postponing the public outing of his paintings. 1. What art movement dit David Bowie belong to?

Neo-Expressionism

from 1970

subjects in an almost raw and brutish manner

with the aim to shock people

highly textural

expressive brushwork

intense colors

strong emotions

eclecticism

large canvases

autobiographical elements

political statements

subcultures (graffiti, ethnic art) as an influence

truth > beauty

2. What are the subjects of his paintings?

(self) portraits

scenes from everyday life

personal experiences from traveling

his style:

expressive

emotional

raw

dark

experimental

3. Is his work a representation of the zeitgeist?

The 70’s and 80’s were dominated by artistic forms derived from postmodernism. These movements could be described as an ironic and playful treatment of a fragmented subject, the breakdown of high and low culture hierarchies, the undermining of concepts of authenticity and originality, and an emphasis on image and spectacle. In the eyes of neo-expressionist painters, such as David Bowie, these art forms were very superficial. David Bowie went against postmodernism and created stories through expressive art in which he portrayed his personal feelings and thoughts.

4. What were his inspirations?

David Bowie was a collector of art. He mostly collected paintings from expressionist and surrealist painters such as Frank Auerbach, David Bomberg, Francis Bacon, Francis Picabia, Erich Heckel and Damien Hirst. These painters were also the inspirations for his own work. Their paintings were emotional, subjective and showed dark emotions such as fear and anger.

album covers:

Many of Bowie’s album covers were inspired by different artists such as Erich Heckel and Gilbert & George. The latter being an artist duo creating brightly colored and bold conceptual art.

Conclusion:

Art as an emotional outlet

Not afraid to show emotion and political engagement

Lets himself be carried away by emotion

Has a dark side

Very open minded (especially about inspiration from other artists)

Strong, expressive creativity

Chooses authenticity and truth over perfection and shallowness

Contrast: insecure (inside) - daring (outside)

Sources:

http://www.vogue.com/13458171/homes-david-bowie-art-collection-sothebys-auction/

http://www.theartstory.org/definition-postmodernism.htm

http://bigthink.com/laurie-vazquez/what-made-david-bowie-so-creative-his-obsession-with-art

http://www.kunstkennis.nl/kunstgeschiedenis/moderne%20kunst/neo-expressionisme.htm

http://kunstvannu.blogspot.nl/p/neo-expressionisme.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37845306

https://www.yahoo.com/news/david-bowie-striking-legacy-painter-003551444/photo-ancestor-ii-1995-1998-1452561082366.html

https://sl4artglobal.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/bowie-in-berlin-between-expressionism-and-nightlife/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5X5G3tWTJzk9fQbp1x65zXY/pop-art-why-david-bowie-loved-these-five-paintings

Film & Theater

In welk filmgenre speelde David Bowie en wat zijn hier de kenmerken van?

Voor welke filmgenres produceerde hij zelf?

Wat zijn de onderwerpen van zijn films? (als acteur en filmmaker)

Sluit zijn werk aan op de zeitgeist of gaat hij hier juist tegenin?

Wat zijn zijn inspiraties? Bowies love for acting started at a very young age. In the years between his first few singles and the fame that came with Space Oddity, Bowie studied dance and mime under Lindsay Kemp.

THEATER

The Elephant Man

The acting debut on the American stage of rock singer David Bowie was greeted by a standing ovation in Denver when the singer, noted for his flamboyant musical style, took on the role of physically misshapen John Merrick, the human monster with a liking for culture.

Bowie claims his interest for this performance was based on the outrageous and distorted elements that his character was based on. (Could have something to do with the schizophrenia in his family.)

FILMS

Along the way, he only had a handful of leading roles; most of the time, he was part of the supporting cast or had a cameo. Sometimes he even played himself, putting a twist on his public image. A David Bowie appearance might not have always guaranteed critical acclaim, but – as you’ll see in our comprehensive look back – it was usually a sign that the work would be creative and imaginative.

Labyrinth (1986) Musical, Adventure, Fantasy

Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems.

Bowie playing an evil goblin king as an oddly maternal, glam rocker. We don’t imagine the part required much real acting, but it surely showed us a goofier, more playful side of Bowie.

The man who fell of the earth (1976) Sci-Fi, Drama

You have to believe it to see it.

Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth finds the man who was, only a few years earlier, Ziggy Stardust playing an alien who has come to Earth to find water to his drought-stricken home. At the height of his mid-’70s drug excess, Bowie appears pale, painfully thin, and often nervous — making him the perfect extraterrestrial.

The Hunger (1983) Horror

Nothing Human Loves Forever

Growing old and dying have always been preoccupations for Bowie, and we imagine that’s what makes his turn as a rapidly aging vampire so memorable.

Bowie always excelled at playing the magic freak: the world-weary, otherworldly outsider who is both adored and condemned for his destabilizing mojo. And because Bowie's insuperable Bowie-ness glitters too brightly for him to vanish into any one part, a close look at his film and theater roles is a case study in the merits of stunt casting.

He chose his roles so selectively and with such idiosyncratic, yet strangely consistent taste, that almost incidentally to the main narrative of his extraordinary life, he amassed an enviable onscreen filmography.

VIDEOCLIPS

A year before MTV went on the air, Bowie released the video Ashes to Ashes. (1980) Which Bowie directed together with David Mallet. It cost £250,000 to produce, making it the most expensive music video ever made at the time.

Ashes to Ashes

The music video for "Ashes to Ashes" features Bowie dressed as Pierrot in a variety of bizarre situations. Steve Strange of the New Wave band, Visage, cameos. Bowie has said the shot of himself and other characters marching towards the camera in front of a bulldozer symbolizes "oncoming violence." During this scene, the characters behind Bowie are not bowing, but simply trying to pull their gowns away from the bulldozer so they don't get stuck! This, and many other images in the video suggest that Bowie may be trying to bury the various personas he developed.

The clip was shot during the New Romantics Culture. The fantasy & Escapism of the clip suit to this period of time.

David used his alter ego’s during his performances as an actor as well as the other way around.

SPIRIT OF THE TIME

New Romantics Culture New Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to punk,[3] and was heavily influenced by former glam rock stars of the 1970s such as David Bowie and Roxy Music.[4] In terms of style it rejected the austerity and anti-fashion stance of punk.[5] Both sexes often dressed in counter-sexual or androgynous clothing and wore cosmetics such as eyeliner and lipstick, partly derived from earlier punk fashions.[6] This "gender bending" was particularly evident in figures such as Boy George of Culture Club and Marilyn (Peter Robinson).[3]

 INSPIRATION

Since he has had such a long and varied career, David Bowie is very much an artist influenced by his peers. As Hans Hyttel points out he wrote songs about Bob Dylan and John Lennon (also Andy Warhol) and you can see the influence of them in his music and art. He also hung around with Lou Reed and Iggy Pop for a time and they three had great influence on each other. He also collaborates a lot with Brian Eno and you could say Eno crafted much of the sound that we identify as "Bowie" as he produced many of Bowie's most famous albums.

The later phases of his career he delved heavily into German synth and electro pop, even re-recording a few of his songs in German and releasing whole albums of very German inspired music.

As to what inspired him initially to produce music. well his wiki article states "Terry Burns, his half-brother, introduced him to modern jazz, his enthusiasm for players like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane led his mother to give him a plastic alto saxophone in 1961; he was soon receiving lessons from a local musician." - (Read more: David Bowie)

CONCLUSIONS

·      Bowie studied dance and mime under Lindsay Kemp.

·      Acting debut: The Elephant Man

·      Handful of leading roles; most of the time, he was part of the supporting cast or had a cameo.

Labyrinth (Fantasy)

The man who fell of the earth (Sci-Fi)

The hunger (Surreal Horror)

·      Bowie always excelled at playing the magic freak: the world-weary, otherworldly outsider who is both adored and condemned for his destabilizing mojo

·      The music video Ashes to Ashes. (1980) It cost £250,000 to produce, making it the most expensive music video ever made at the time.

·      The clip was shot during the New Romantics Culture. The fantasy & Escapism of the clip suit to this period of time.

·      New Romantics: In terms of style it rejected the austerity and anti-fashion stance of punk.[5] Both sexes often dressed in counter-sexual or androgynous clothing and wore cosmetics such as eyeliner and lipstick, partly derived from earlier punk fashions

·      Inspirations: He was inspired by Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Andy Warhol which influence you can recognize in his music and art.

During a later phase of his career he was inspired by German synth and electro pop.

His half-brother Terry Burns and musicians Charles Mingus and John Coltrane introduced him to modern-jazz music when he was younger.

Sources:

https://www.quora.com/Who-inspired-David-Bowie

http://soul-psychics.com/blog/the-spirit-of-david-bowie/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000309/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm http://www.davidbowie.com/bio

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6836438/david-bowie-music-videos-best

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6836438/david-bowie-music-videos-best http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-david-bowie-music-videos-20160120 http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/dvdextras/2010/10/cracked_actor.html

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/01/the-8-essential-movie-performances-of-david-bowie-91853/

http://www.bowiegoldenyears.com/1979.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/david-bowie-11-surprising-facts-about-the-king-of-glam-rock/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/01/09/twin_peaks_will_return_on_may_21_with_a_two_hour_premiere.html

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/movies/david-bowie-movies-that-define-his-film-career

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/?ref_=nm_knf_i3

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115632/?ref_=nm_knf_i2

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074851/?ref_=nm_knf_i4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPithDmHrd0

Other

CAREER SWITCH

In 1998 David told the New York Times that by creating visual art it him helped to create better music. He said that if he had a creative obstacle in the music that he was working on, it would often revert to painting or drawing it out. In the painting or in the drawing arised a structure of the music what he was working on and this would produce a breakthrough.

SUPPORTED CHARITIES

In 1984 David participated in the English charity band Band Aid. The band was aimed to raise money to fight the famine in Ethiopia. Together with other famous English singers they recorded the song Do They Know It’s Christmas. It was a number one hit in multiple countries and raised a lot of money.

In 1985 Bob Geldof (co-founder of the band) organized the charity concert Live Aid. It was a 16 hour during concert and there were contemporaneous performances in various countries such as the US, the UK and The Hague. David Bowie performed in the Wembley Stadium in London. The event was broadcasted live in many countries and became one of the world’s biggest media spectacles ever watched. It was so successful that 245,4 million dollars was raised that evening also for the famine in Ethiopia.

David has also supported a lot of charities. The charities support the causes of abuse, AIDS & HIV, At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths, children, disaster relief, economic/business support, education, family/parent support, health, human rights, hunger, miscellaneous, peace, poverty, weapons reduction, women rights.

The charities that he supported were:

21st Century Leaders

Every Mother Counts

Food Bank For New York City

Keep A Child Alive

Mines Advisory Group

Save The Children

The Lunchbox Fund

War Child

Whatever It Takes

WhyHunger

Witness

Sources

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie

http://bigthink.com/laurie-vazquez/what-made-david-bowie-so-creative-his-obsession-with-art

http://liveaid.free.fr

https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/david-bowie#charities

CONCLUSION

David cares for the world and the people living on it. By creating visual art it him helped to create better music

He blurred gender lines with ultra-glam, over-the-top androgynous looks in his “Ziggy Stardust” days and later adopted a sharp, buttoned-up persona that was anything but stuffy. The ‘80s were filled with vibrant coloured suits, printed overcoats, and flashy accessories. And let’s not forget his ever-changing hair. One word: magical. Even with the release of his most recent album “Blackstar,” just four days ago, the legend was still serving style supremacy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/david-bowie-fashion-icon-photos_us_5693c3d6e4b0a2b6fb70ce1b

Why Did You Call The Exhibition David Bowie Is?

“The title is both a statement and an unfinished sentence, and poses the question David Bowie is – what? Our approach was to leave that question open, and to highlight the fact that there is no single answer.”

https://www.mrporter.com/daily/why-mr-david-bowie-is-still-a-cultural-icon/1107

Bowie’s sartorial legacy has inspired generations of designers, from tailoring don Giorgio Armani to Belgium’s more avant garde Dries Van Noten. For his spring/summer collection this year Jean Paul Gaultier sent Bowie lookalikes down the runway, telling reporters he found the V&A show “absolutely incredible… You see how clever he is in all his projects, and how he connected to art.”

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131004-ch-ch-anges-bowies-many-looks

‘’ I’m a collector, I collect personalities and ideas.’’ - Bowie

‘’A tiger that is captured is wilder than a tiger in the wild.’’ - Bowie?

The inimitable, genre-defying musician produced a staggering 26 studio albums in his lifetime, resulting in scores of hits across half a century — from 1969’s “Space Oddity” to 1973’s “Life On Mars” to 1974’s “Rebel Rebel” to 1975’s “Fame” to 1977’s “Heroes” to 1983’s “Let’s Dance” to 1987’s “Dancing In The Street” with Mick Jagger — all the way up to 2016’s Blackstar, his latest studio album, which was released just a few days ago on January 8.

http://popcrush.com/david-bowie-dead-obit/?trackback=tsmclip

[twixnmix]

David Bowie with his wife Angie and their son Zowie (Duncan Jones) at the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam, February 1974. 

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David Bowie: Ten things we've learned since his death – BBC News

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption David Bowie: One of the defining artists of his generation

It's one year since music legend David Bowie succumbed to cancer.

The musician died two days after his 69th birthday, having kept his illness hidden from everyone except his family and closest collaborators.

He had only just released his 25th album, Blackstar, which came to be seen as his “parting gift” to fans, reflecting as it did on themes of mortality and decay.

It was a typically adventurous and enigmatic record from a musician who maintained a sense of mystery throughout his career.

Since his death, however, fans have been afforded the occasional glimpse into his creative life – all of which elevate his status as a visionary, musical genius and humanitarian.

Here are 10 things we've learned in the last 12 months.

1) He wanted his ashes scattered in Bali

Image copyright Thinkstock

Bowie was cremated in private last January. In accordance with his wishes, no family or friends were present at the ceremony, and the whereabouts of his ashes remain a secret.

His son Duncan Jones denied a rumour they had been spread at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, adding that if his father's ashes were to be scattered in public, “it would at the Skegness Butlins“.

However, according to Bowie's will, which was filed in New York on 29 January, the star wanted his ashes scattered in Indonesia “in accordance with the Buddhist rituals of Bali”.

2) He worried about how Blackstar would be received

Image copyright Columbia Records

For his final album, Bowie dispensed with his regular band and hired a group of young jazz musicians to push his music in a new direction. It was adventurous and exciting, but the star wasn't sure how fans would react.

“He was nervous it wasn't a good album,” said Jonathan Barnbrook, who designed the sleeve.

Speaking of which…

3) The artwork for Blackstar was a comment on mortality

Image copyright Columbia Records

The title of Bowie's last album suggests a light flickering out, while the video for Blackstar features a skeleton inside a spacesuit that is “100% Major Tom,” according to director Johan Renck, who spoke to Francis Whately for the BBC Four documentary Bowie: The Last Five Years.

The album's artwork, which presents a single black star on a white background, is also loaded with symbolism.

“The idea of mortality is in there, and of course the idea of a black hole sucking in everything, the Big Bang, the start of the universe, if there is an end of the universe,” Jonathan Barnbrook explained to design website Dezeen. “These are things that relate to mortality.”

On the vinyl edition, the star is cut out of the sleeve, leaving the record exposed. “The fact that you can see the record as a physical thing that degrades, it gets scratched as soon as it comes into being, that is a comment on mortality too,” said Barnbrook.

Months after the album was released, fans discovered that holding the record in direct sunlight would make a field of stars appear on the black inner sleeve. Once removed, the stars would fade away – adding another layer of symbolism to the cover.

4) He could have been Gandalf

Image copyright Shutterstock

The list of stars who almost starred in Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy is almost as long as the films themselves. Nicolas Cage auditioned to play Aragorn, while the part of Gandalf was offered to Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart.

Amazingly, Bowie – star of 1986 film Labyrinth – was also on that list.

Actor Dominic Monaghan, who played the hobbit Merry in the movies, said he had seen the singer enter the casting studio in 1999. “I'm assuming he read for Gandalf. I can't think of anything else he would've read for,” he told The Huffington Post.

“We approached him,” the film's casting director, Amy Hubbard, later confirmed. “I'm pretty sure it was Peter Jackson's idea [but] he was unavailable.”

5) He left $2m to his personal assistant

Image copyright Shutterstock

Bowie left an estate of around $100m (82m) to his wife, Iman, and his two children. But he also gave $2m (1.6m) to his personal assistant Corinne “Coco” Schwab.

It might seem like an extraordinary act of generosity, but Schwab was his closest confidante for 42 years.

She started working for Bowie in London in 1973 when she answered an advert in the London Evening Standard asking for a “girl Friday for a busy office”. Before long, she was his right-hand woman, looking after every aspect of his life, right down to diet. In an early Rolling Stone profile, she was depicted going to the market to buy the star some extra-rich milk, sighing, “I've got to put more weight on that boy.”

In later years, Bowie called Schwab his “best friend” and credited her with helping him kick his cocaine addiction in 1970s Berlin.

“Coco was the one person who told me what a fool I was becoming and she made me snap out of it,” he said.

6) He signed off emails with comedy nicknames

Image copyright PA

Producer Brian Eno (pictured above left with Jarvis Cocker and Bowie), who worked on Bowie's legendary Berlin trilogy in the 1970s, said he had been in touch with the singer just a week before his death, discussing new projects.

“Over the last few years – with him living in New York and me in London – our connection was by email,” he told the BBC last year.

“We signed off with invented names: some of his were Mr Showbiz, Milton Keynes, Rhoda Borrocks and the Duke of Ear.

“I received an email from him seven days ago. It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: 'Thank you for our good times, Brian. they will never rot'. And it was signed 'Dawn'.

“I realise now he was saying goodbye.”

7) Hunky Dory is the fans' favourite Bowie album

Image copyright Columbia Records

In the week Bowie died, 19 of his albums entered the UK chart. Discounting greatest hits compilations and Blackstar (a new release), the record most people turned to was his fourth album, Hunky Dory.

Released in 1971, and featuring the songs Life On Mars, Changes and Oh, You Pretty Things!, it is one of Bowie's most accessible and engaging albums, recorded with the band who would become known as Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars one year later.

Posthumous sales of Hunky Dory were undoubtedly boosted by the song Kooks, which was one of the most widely-shared Bowie songs on social media in the days following his death.

A music hall pastiche, the track finds Bowie musing on fatherhood after the birth of his first son, Zowie. Awkward, warm and funny (not always common qualities in Bowie songs) it includes lyrics like: “Don't pick fights with the bullies or the cads / 'Cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's dads.”

Earlier this week, Hunky Dory was voted Bowie's best album by listeners of BBC 6 Music.

8) His version of My Way is best avoided

In 1968, David Bowie's music publisher had the then-unknown singer write English lyrics for a song that had been a huge hit in France: Claude Franois and Jacques Revaux's Comme d'habitude.

“I went, 'yeah, that'd be a good exercise,'” he recalled, “So I wrote a lyric for it, called Even a Fool Learns to Love”.

Not having a band at the time, Bowie had simply played the Claude Franois song at home and recorded his own version over the top, singing in time to the French lyrics.

But Bowie's words were rejected and Paul Anka got the job instead. His version was called My Way, and it became a global smash for Frank Sinatra.

“I was so pissed,” said Bowie later. “I thought, 'God, I could have done with that money'. And so I wrote Life on Mars, which was sort of a Sinatra-ish parody, but done in a more rock style.”

The demo for Even a Fool Learns to Love was unearthed last year and broadcast for the first time on the BBC Four series The People's History of Pop. It is not, to be brutally honest, worth seeking out.

The story of how it inspired one of Bowie's signature songs can be heard on the Radio 2 documentary Exploring Life On Mars.

9) He gave Lorde the courage to be different

Image copyright Farrell/BFA/REX/Shutterstock

Given the number of musical personas Bowie adopted throughout his 50-year career, it is hard to find an artist he hasn't inspired.

But 20-year-old pop singer Lorde – who performed a tribute to the star at last year's Brit Awards and is pictured above with Bowie and Tilda Swinton – revealed the star personally intervened in her career.

Writing on Facebook, she recalled how Bowie had asked to meet her after she played a concert in honour of Swinton's birthday in 2013.

“I've never met a hero of mine and liked it,” she said. “It just sucks, the pressure is too huge, you can't enjoy it.

“David was different. That night something changed in me – I felt a calmness grow, a sureness.

“I realised I was proud of my spiky strangeness because he had been proud of his. And I know I'm never going to stop learning dances, brand new dances.”

10) He didn't think music would be his legacy

Image copyright PA / Getty / BBC

Francis Whately's documentary, Bowie: The Last Five Years gave fans a rare glimpse of Bowie's sense of humour. He was seen larking around backstage, sticking flashing baubles to his face and attacking his band with a plastic crow.

Towards the end of the film, Whately excavated a rare interview, in which the star was asked what he wanted be remembered for.

“I'd love people to believe,” he said, “That I really had great haircuts.”

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David Bowie: Ten things we've learned since his death – BBC News

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Image caption David Bowie: One of the defining artists of his generation

It's one year since music legend David Bowie succumbed to cancer.

The musician died two days after his 69th birthday, having kept his illness hidden from everyone except his family and closest collaborators.

He had only just released his 25th album, Blackstar, which came to be seen as his “parting gift” to fans, reflecting as it did on themes of mortality and decay.

It was a typically adventurous and enigmatic record from a musician who maintained a sense of mystery throughout his career.

Since his death, however, fans have been afforded the occasional glimpse into his creative life – all of which elevate his status as a visionary, musical genius and humanitarian.

Here are 10 things we've learned in the last 12 months.

1) He wanted his ashes scattered in Bali

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Bowie was cremated in private last January. In accordance with his wishes, no family or friends were present at the ceremony, and the whereabouts of his ashes remain a secret.

His son Duncan Jones denied a rumour they had been spread at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, adding that if his father's ashes were to be scattered in public, “it would at the Skegness Butlins“.

However, according to Bowie's will, which was filed in New York on 29 January, the star wanted his ashes scattered in Indonesia “in accordance with the Buddhist rituals of Bali”.

2) He worried about how Blackstar would be received

Image copyright Columbia Records

For his final album, Bowie dispensed with his regular band and hired a group of young jazz musicians to push his music in a new direction. It was adventurous and exciting, but the star wasn't sure how fans would react.

“He was nervous it wasn't a good album,” said Jonathan Barnbrook, who designed the sleeve.

Speaking of which…

3) The artwork for Blackstar was a comment on mortality

Image copyright Columbia Records

The title of Bowie's last album suggests a light flickering out, while the video for Blackstar features a skeleton inside a spacesuit that is “100% Major Tom,” according to director Johan Renck, who spoke to Francis Whately for the BBC Four documentary Bowie: The Last Five Years.

The album's artwork, which presents a single black star on a white background, is also loaded with symbolism.

“The idea of mortality is in there, and of course the idea of a black hole sucking in everything, the Big Bang, the start of the universe, if there is an end of the universe,” Jonathan Barnbrook explained to design website Dezeen. “These are things that relate to mortality.”

On the vinyl edition, the star is cut out of the sleeve, leaving the record exposed. “The fact that you can see the record as a physical thing that degrades, it gets scratched as soon as it comes into being, that is a comment on mortality too,” said Barnbrook.

Months after the album was released, fans discovered that holding the record in direct sunlight would make a field of stars appear on the black inner sleeve. Once removed, the stars would fade away – adding another layer of symbolism to the cover.

4) He could have been Gandalf

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The list of stars who almost starred in Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy is almost as long as the films themselves. Nicolas Cage auditioned to play Aragorn, while the part of Gandalf was offered to Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart.

Amazingly, Bowie – star of 1986 film Labyrinth – was also on that list.

Actor Dominic Monaghan, who played the hobbit Merry in the movies, said he had seen the singer enter the casting studio in 1999. “I'm assuming he read for Gandalf. I can't think of anything else he would've read for,” he told The Huffington Post.

“We approached him,” the film's casting director, Amy Hubbard, later confirmed. “I'm pretty sure it was Peter Jackson's idea [but] he was unavailable.”

5) He left $2m to his personal assistant

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Bowie left an estate of around $100m (82m) to his wife, Iman, and his two children. But he also gave $2m (1.6m) to his personal assistant Corinne “Coco” Schwab.

It might seem like an extraordinary act of generosity, but Schwab was his closest confidante for 42 years.

She started working for Bowie in London in 1973 when she answered an advert in the London Evening Standard asking for a “girl Friday for a busy office”. Before long, she was his right-hand woman, looking after every aspect of his life, right down to diet. In an early Rolling Stone profile, she was depicted going to the market to buy the star some extra-rich milk, sighing, “I've got to put more weight on that boy.”

In later years, Bowie called Schwab his “best friend” and credited her with helping him kick his cocaine addiction in 1970s Berlin.

“Coco was the one person who told me what a fool I was becoming and she made me snap out of it,” he said.

6) He signed off emails with comedy nicknames

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Producer Brian Eno (pictured above left with Jarvis Cocker and Bowie), who worked on Bowie's legendary Berlin trilogy in the 1970s, said he had been in touch with the singer just a week before his death, discussing new projects.

“Over the last few years – with him living in New York and me in London – our connection was by email,” he told the BBC last year.

“We signed off with invented names: some of his were Mr Showbiz, Milton Keynes, Rhoda Borrocks and the Duke of Ear.

“I received an email from him seven days ago. It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: 'Thank you for our good times, Brian. they will never rot'. And it was signed 'Dawn'.

“I realise now he was saying goodbye.”

7) Hunky Dory is the fans' favourite Bowie album

Image copyright Columbia Records

In the week Bowie died, 19 of his albums entered the UK chart. Discounting greatest hits compilations and Blackstar (a new release), the record most people turned to was his fourth album, Hunky Dory.

Released in 1971, and featuring the songs Life On Mars, Changes and Oh, You Pretty Things!, it is one of Bowie's most accessible and engaging albums, recorded with the band who would become known as Ziggy Stardust's Spiders From Mars one year later.

Posthumous sales of Hunky Dory were undoubtedly boosted by the song Kooks, which was one of the most widely-shared Bowie songs on social media in the days following his death.

A music hall pastiche, the track finds Bowie musing on fatherhood after the birth of his first son, Zowie. Awkward, warm and funny (not always common qualities in Bowie songs) it includes lyrics like: “Don't pick fights with the bullies or the cads / 'Cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's dads.”

Earlier this week, Hunky Dory was voted Bowie's best album by listeners of BBC 6 Music.

8) His version of My Way is best avoided

In 1968, David Bowie's music publisher had the then-unknown singer write English lyrics for a song that had been a huge hit in France: Claude Franois and Jacques Revaux's Comme d'habitude.

“I went, 'yeah, that'd be a good exercise,'” he recalled, “So I wrote a lyric for it, called Even a Fool Learns to Love”.

Not having a band at the time, Bowie had simply played the Claude Franois song at home and recorded his own version over the top, singing in time to the French lyrics.

But Bowie's words were rejected and Paul Anka got the job instead. His version was called My Way, and it became a global smash for Frank Sinatra.

“I was so pissed,” said Bowie later. “I thought, 'God, I could have done with that money'. And so I wrote Life on Mars, which was sort of a Sinatra-ish parody, but done in a more rock style.”

The demo for Even a Fool Learns to Love was unearthed last year and broadcast for the first time on the BBC Four series The People's History of Pop. It is not, to be brutally honest, worth seeking out.

The story of how it inspired one of Bowie's signature songs can be heard on the Radio 2 documentary Exploring Life On Mars.

9) He gave Lorde the courage to be different

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Given the number of musical personas Bowie adopted throughout his 50-year career, it is hard to find an artist he hasn't inspired.

But 20-year-old pop singer Lorde – who performed a tribute to the star at last year's Brit Awards and is pictured above with Bowie and Tilda Swinton – revealed the star personally intervened in her career.

Writing on Facebook, she recalled how Bowie had asked to meet her after she played a concert in honour of Swinton's birthday in 2013.

“I've never met a hero of mine and liked it,” she said. “It just sucks, the pressure is too huge, you can't enjoy it.

“David was different. That night something changed in me – I felt a calmness grow, a sureness.

“I realised I was proud of my spiky strangeness because he had been proud of his. And I know I'm never going to stop learning dances, brand new dances.”

10) He didn't think music would be his legacy

Image copyright PA / Getty / BBC

Francis Whately's documentary, Bowie: The Last Five Years gave fans a rare glimpse of Bowie's sense of humour. He was seen larking around backstage, sticking flashing baubles to his face and attacking his band with a plastic crow.

Towards the end of the film, Whately excavated a rare interview, in which the star was asked what he wanted be remembered for.

“I'd love people to believe,” he said, “That I really had great haircuts.”

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[dukeoftheblackstar]

"What if we ran away from it all? Just the two of us."

Promising as her suggestive inquiry may be,  there was so much to consider before he could set foot out towards the unknown paradise of an obligation - free world. His career,  though nowhere near Ziggy Stardust’s yet, has been on the rise since the Duke was born. Zowie, his son, would be requiring the best of the best money can offer; from his necessities, education and wants. Not to mention, David’s self - rehabilitation isn’t an over - night possibility. What life would he provide the witch if he couldn’t even sort his own? 

“That’s too much to ask a single father, love.” Replied the Duke regrettably. 

There was no other way to say it.