David Bowie would have celebrated his 75th birthday on January 8th. A look back at the many faces of the legendary pop star.
David Robert Jones, better known as David Bowie (1947-2016), was without question one of the most groundbreaking artists in music history. Almost six years after his death, he is still an idol for the people of his generation – but the younger generation also look up to Major Tom. His artistic legacy outlived his death, and yet January 8th has felt empty for several years. David Bowie would have celebrated his 75th birthday today. A look back at the work of an outsider who, with his many personalities, became a legend.
Bowie was born on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, Great Britain. His mother, a waitress, and his father, a promotional officer, probably had no idea at the time that the boy would be driven out into the big wide world. Even when he was still at school, he stood out with his musical talent. As a child he sang in the choir, mastered the recorder and danced in class.
Inspired by musicians such as Elvis Presley (1935-1977), Chuck Berry (1926-2017) and Little Richard (1932-2020), he learned to play the ukulele, tea box bass and piano. A little later, his older half-brother sparked Bowie’s love for jazz. His mother then gave the multi-instrumentalist a saxophone; In addition, he received lessons from the well-known British saxophonist Ronnie Ross.
The desperate search for the right name
In 1962 David Jones formed his first band, the Konrads. He was just 15 years old at the time. Just a year later, it was clear to the young musical genius: He wanted to become a pop star. However, his bandmates were not as enthusiastic as he was. He left the Konrads and tried his luck with many other bands, but all of them failed. Even his stage name, Davy Jones, should not bring him luck. Because at the same time the Monkees became famous with their member Davy Jones (1945-2012). The renaming to Tom Jones was also doomed for obvious reasons …
A western film (“Alamo”) released in the USA in 1960 ultimately inspired the young David Jones to use his stage name David Bowie. Richard Widmark (1914-2008) played the casual cowboy Jim Bowie in it. However, David Bowie shouldn’t be just a name change – rock historian John Covach revealed to “Time” magazine: “What once started with a simple name change has become a personality.”
“Ground control to Major Tom”
In fact, David Bowie, who released his little successful debut album of the same name in June 1967, should slip into many personas over the course of his career. In 1969 his song “Space Oddity” was released – a few days before the Apollo 11 set off for the moon. Young Bowie sings “Ground control to Major Tom” in it. The fictional astronaut Major Tom became Bowie’s first “character”.
In 1972 Bowie released his album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, creating his most famous persona to this day: Ziggy Stardust. Stardust, an alien, was known for his red-haired mullet, his made-up circle on his forehead and his unusual style of clothing. “I wanted to use him to define the archetype of a rock star messiah,” explained Bowie 1977 in an interview with CBC. However, the fact that he changed his personalities was not well received by everyone at the time. “It was pretty tough for a lot of people to understand that a rock musician can go on stage and be a different person every time,” he said.
From Ziggy Stardust to the Blind Prophet
However, Ziggy Stardust was not the only fictional character burned into people’s minds. Aladdin Sane (who is often mistaken for Ziggy Stardust) is arguably one of the most famous figures in pop culture to this day. The album cover of the eponymous record from 1973 showed Bowie with a blue and red flash on his face. This fictional character was followed by other personas such as Halloween Jack, The Soul Man, The Thin White Duke, The DJ, Pierrot, Screaming Lord Byron, Jareth the Kobold King (from the film “The Journey into the Labyrinth”) and finally The Blind Prophet.
The Blind Prophet was the last persona David Bowie could realize himself with. On January 8th, 2016 he released his album “Blackstar”. In the accompanying music video for the title song “Lazarus” (named after Saint Lazarus of Bethany, who was raised from the dead by Jesus) he appeared as the blind prophet. “Look up here, I’m in heaven / I have scars that you can’t see,” he sings in a broken voice. Did Bowie know he wasn’t going to have much time left?
Just two days later, on January 10th, David Jones closed his eyes forever. He was diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months earlier, but kept his fate to himself. Whether his last album was really a parting present remains unclear – media like the student newspaper “The Red & Black” titled “Blackstar” as a swansong Bowies.
David Bowie – an artist for the ages?
Major Tom went back to space almost six years ago … and Ziggy Stardust returned to Mars. David Jones left earth. Is it finally where it belongs? On his 75th birthday, he realizes that something has been missing since he was gone. What survived David Jones’ death, however, is David Bowie. With Bowie, Jones created an artist for the ages. And Bowie created personas from which artists will probably draw inspiration far into the future.
The exceptional artist is remembered around the world on his birthday. Pop-up stores dedicated to the pop icon are opening in London and New York. Deutsche Post is honoring the versatile artist with a special postage stamp. The new album “Toy” was also released, a collection of new recordings and interpretations of the early songs.