David Bowie - Songs

ABOUT

David Bowie (January 8, 1947 - January 10, 2016) was a highly acclaimed, influential, and pioneering English singer, songwriter, and actor with a flamboyant stage presence who became internationally famous beginning in the early 1970s at the height of the glam rock era. He is best known for such hits as "Space Oddity" (1973), "Fame" (1975), "Golden Years" (1975), "Let's Dance" (1983), "Blue Jean" (1984), and his remake with Mick Jagger of Martha & The Vandellas' "Dancing In The Street" (1985). Bowie's long career was characterized by continual reinvention and musical innovation, and over the years, he adopted various alter egos that reflected his different phases such as "Ziggy Stardust" and "Thin White Duke." His many movie credits included "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976) and "Labyrinth" (1986) in which he both co-starred and performed.

Born David Robert Jones in London, he began his studies of art, music, dance, and design as a child and formed his first band in 1962. While in his teens, he got into a fight with a friend over a girl and sustained an injury to his left eye leaving the pupil permanently dilated. He began recording at age 17 under his real name (David Jones) but by 1966, had changed his stage name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with The Monkees' Davy Jones. In 1967, he released his eponymous debut album, and his fame began to take off in the U.K. in 1969 with "Space Oddity," which became a U.K. Top 5 hit, won an Ivor Novello Award, and also made a dent on the U.S. Billboard "Bubbling Under" tally (at #124). Originally released days before the Apollo 11 mission which put the first men on the moon, this psychedelic folk masterpiece was re-released in 1973 and became a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic as well as several other countries worldwide.

David Bowie debuted on the U.S. charts in 1972 with "Changes," which first became a minor hit and later reached #41 upon its re-release in 1974. He topped the charts with "Fame" (1975) and "Let's Dance" (1983), and both these funk rock classics also became top hits on the R&B charts. Other big hits in the U.S. included "Space Oddity" (1973), "Rebel Rebel" (1974), "Young Americans" (1975), "Golden Years" (1975), "China Girl" (1983), "Modern Love" (1983), "Blue Jean" (1984), "Dancing In The Street" (1985), "Day-In Day-Out" (1987), and "Never Let Me Down" (1987). Bowie's long string of hits continued in the U.K. and many other countries worldwide through the 2010s, and he resurfaced on the U.S. Top 40 in 2015 with "Lazarus," from his final studio album, "Blackstar" (2016).

David Bowie is among rock's all-time best-selling musicians with over 100 million records sold worldwide that include such landmark albums as "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" (1972), "Aladdin Sane" (1973), "Diamond Dogs" (1974), "Heroes" (1977), "Let's Dance" (1983), and "Blackstar" (2016). He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and his numerous other honors and accolades included six Grammys, eleven NME Awards, four BRIT Awards, four Ivor Novello Awards, and four MTV Video Music Awards.

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SONGS

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David Bowie

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