David Bowie is one of the brightest and most interesting singers ever born. In this article, we will talk about Bowie’s long and terribly interesting life, how he went to success and what he became famous for.
David Bowie rightfully took his place among the world-famous stars. His image has had a powerful influence on pop culture, on fashion, and even on our preferences in music. Who was one of the most outrageous and classiest artists and how did he live? Read our article and find out!
Biography of David Bowie
Bowie is not only a British rock singer, but also a songwriter, producer, sound engineer, artist and actor. He was engaged in creativity for fifty long years, often changing his image, for which he received the nickname “chameleon of rock music.” He knew how to play the guitar, saxophone and keyboards, and during his entire musical career he managed to work in thirteen genres.
And, of course, David Bowie influenced many creative people. But how did it all begin?
Childhood of David Bowie
David Robert Jones was born in London on January 8, 1947, and his parents formalized their relationship just eight months after his birth. David Bowie’s parents, Margaret Peggy and Hayward Jones, had nothing to do with music or creativity. My mother worked as a cinema ticket clerk, and my father worked as a clerk in the human resources department of a local charitable organization.
Until the age of six, Bowie studied in the preparatory class of the Stockwell school, and the teachers spoke of him in two ways: they noted that the boy was talented and intelligent, but at the same time he was stubborn and a brawler.
Since 1953, David has been studying at a primary school in the suburbs of London, doing well and participating in the school choir. Teachers called his classes in the choir very mediocre. Here they were surprised when Bowie became a legend.
Soon, David begins to go to music and choreographic circles, and the teachers note him as a bright artistic, phenomenal boy. Soon, Bowie gets acquainted with the work of Elvis Presley and likes it so much that he asks his father to buy a ukulele and starts playing the bass guitar with his friends.
Having just taken a liking to music, David misses his studies and in 1958 goes to study at Bromley Technical College, because he could not pass the final exam.
Years in college
During his studies in college, he meets Peter Frampton, and his father recommends that the boys pursue a musical career together. They began a short-term collaboration that soon ended. Only after 30 years, the friends will start creative activities again, but we will talk about this later.
Many people think that David Bowie has different colored eyes, but this is not so. The slightly strange appearance of the singer is the result of a fight with his best friend George Underwood. They had a fight over a girl and during the fight, George accidentally hit his left eye with a fist with a ring on his finger, causing David to permanently lose color perception in the injured eye and see everything in brown with his left eye.
Bowie actually had a dilated left pupil, which made his eyes appear different.
However, they did not quarrel with George Underwood to death: soon they continued close communication and even collaborated. George illustrated David’s early albums.
By the time he graduated from college, David Bowie had mastered many musical instruments, literally becoming a man-orchestra!
He could play the saxophone, guitar, keyboards, harpsichord, harmonica, piano, mellotron, stylophone, ukulele, xylophone, koto, vibraphone, percussion and percussion. That’s right, isn’t it?
The work of David Bowie
Bowie began to work seriously at the age of 15: together with his friends, he formed the band The Kon-rads and they performed at weddings and parties, playing mainly rock and roll.
The first failures
A year later, the ambitious and determined David leaves his first band and joins The King Bees. And his ambitions bear fruit: David writes a letter to the millionaire John Bloom, offering to conclude a contract with the group, and he offers to do it to his friend and publisher of the Beatles. And the contract is indeed concluded!
Then David takes a pseudonym and becomes David Bowie.
However, this success is followed by a series of failures and group changes. Bowie does not receive recognition, the contract with him is terminated and the singer continues to create, but without success. After a series of failures, Bowie gave up music for two years and went to study pantomime and circus arts.