WMTR Celebrity Birthday: David Bowie – January 8th, 1947

David Robert Jones aka David Bowie Birthplace: London England Birthdate: January 8th, 1947 – January 10th, 2016 Age he would have been in 2025: 78 One of the most important and influential musicians, David Bowie was born January 8th, 1947. The musician and actor was extremely well known for his extravagant visual presentation, both on stage as well as in his acting roles. At an early age he became interested in music, which blossomed into him studying music along with art and design, leading him to start his musical career in 1963.  After not finding much success early on between local bands and a solo album, David Bowie wouldn’t come across his first successful release until the single “Space Oddity” in 1969, five days before the historic Apollo 11 launch. The single would become one of Bowie’s greatest songs of all time, being considered one of “The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, constantly being considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time, and was even covered by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the video of which was filmed on the International Space Station becoming the first music video recorded in space.  With his first taste of success, David Bowie would continue to press on. He would go on to bring characters into his performance with Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke. These characters extended into his off-stage personality and, by his own admission, gave him doubts about his sanity. Despite this, he was able to overcome the grip Ziggy and the Duke had on him and release a total of 26 albums, 8 EPs, and 9 live albums, with his final album being 2016’s Blackstar. Some of Bowie’s other massive hits include “Changes”, “Fame”, “Heroes”, “The Man Who Sold the World”, “Starman” and “Suffragette City”. He also has hits in collaborations with other artists, such as “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” with Bing Crosby, a cover of “Dancing in the Street” with Mick Jagger, and the legendary “Under Pressure” with Queen.  Outside of music, David Bowie was also an award-winning actor. Some highlight rolls include Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976 which he earned a Saturn Award for, Special Agent Phillip Jeffries in the Twin Peaks franchise, Lord Royal Highness in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. But, arguably Bowie’s most memorable role as Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986). The role had a handful of other musicians considered, including Prince, Mick Jagger, and Michael Jackson, before Jim Henson decided that only Bowie could bring Jareth to life, and he was right, as it felt like it was Jareth was another one of Bowie’s on-stage personas rather than a character just created for a film.   Throughout his career as a musician and an actor, David Bowie was nominated for 186 awards, winning 72 of them. Some of the most notable wins include three British Male Solo Artist Brit Awards, as well as the ceremony’s Outstanding Contribution to Music and British Icon awards; GQ’s Most Stylish Man of the 2000; and six Grammys, four of which for his final album Blackstar as well as the ceremony’s Lifetime Achievement Award. His influence has even reached outside of the arts, with the spider Heteropoda davidbowie and asteroid (342843) Davidbowie being named after him, as well as the creation of a new constellation in the shape of his signature Aladdin Sane lightning bolt made up of stars that were near Mars on the day of his passing in 2016.