David Robert Jones was born in Brixton on 8th January 1947. At thirteen,
inspired by the jazz of the West End, he picked up the saxophone and called
Ronnie Ross for lessons. David's first gig was in an R&B band called Davie Jones
and the King Bees. Other bands he played in were, The Konrads, The Manish Boys
and The Lower Third. To avoid being confused with Davey Jones of the Monkees, he
renamed himself David Bowie and recorded his first solo album in 1967, The World
Of David Bowie, the album drew little attention.
The album, originally titled 'David Bowie' then subsequently 'Man Of Words, Man
Of Music', pays homage to all the influences of the London artistic scene, and
shows the early song-writing talent that was yet to yield some of rock and
roll's finest works, even if it would take the rest of the world a few years to
catch up with him
During the late 60's Bowie's girlfriend, soon to be wife, Angela Barnet
convinced a friend to listen to the singer's material. What resulted was the
1969 single Space Oddity, which became Bowie's first hit single at No 5. In
1972, Bowie released his legendary album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
and the Spiders from Mars. The record a tale of space rocker Ziggy Stardust and
his fanaticism, earned Bowie a legion of fans.
The hits continued into the 1980's for David Bowie. With Queen he recorded Under
Pressure, and with Mick Jagger he remade Martha and the Vandellas Dancing in the
Street. He was successful in his own right with hits such as Modern Love, China
Girl and Let's Dance.
David Bowie started off the 1990s by forming the rock
quartet Tin Machine. The band released two self titled albums, but did not
draw enough attention. After marrying supermodel Iman in 1992, Bowie
returned to his solo career. His latest album, Earthling, has kept Bowie
on the cutting edge just as he enters his 50s. July 1999 was to see
David be voted as the biggest music star of the 20th century, beating Mick
Jagger and Noel Gallagher, by readers of the Sun newspaper.
