(CNN) — Here’s a look at the life of the British singer, songwriter, and actor David Bowie.
Personal:
Birth date: January 8, 1947
Birth place: London, England
Birth name: David Robert Hayward Jones
Father: Hayward Jones, a publicist
Mother: Margaret Mary (Burns) Jones
Marriages: Iman (1992-present); Angela Barnett (March 20, 1970-1980)
Children: with Iman: Alexandria, August 15, 2000; with Angela Barnett: Duncan, 1971
Other Facts:
His stage personas include Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and The Thin White Duke.
His left eye is permanently dilated after he injured it in a fight as a teenager.
Has two different color eyes.
Studied mime and theatre in his youth.
Overcame drug addiction in the 1970s and no longer drinks alcohol.
Nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, won once.
Nominated and won one Daytime Emmy Award.
Timeline:
1964 – Forms his first band, David Jones and the King Bees. Other early bands include The Manish Boys, The Lower Third and The Buzz.
1965 – Changes his name to David Bowie to prevent being confused with Davy Jones, who was the lead singer of The Monkees.
1967 – Releases a solo album with Deram Records.
1969 – “Space Oddity” becomes a Top 10 hit in Britain.
1970 – Releases first solo album “Man of Words, Man of Music”. It was re-released in 1972 in the U.S. as “Space Oddity”.
1971 – The album “The Man Who Sold the World” is released. Bowie appears on the cover wearing make-up and a dress.
1971 – Bowie is signed by RCA. Releases “Hunky Dory”, which includes the single “Changes.”
1972 – Releases “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”.
1970s – Releases “Aladdin Sane”, “Diamond Dogs”, “Young Americans”, “Station to Station”, “Low”, “Heroes”, and “Lodger”.
1976 – Stars in the film “The Man Who Fell to Earth”.
November 1977 – “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas” special airs. Bowie and Crosby sing “The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth” together.
1980 – Plays on Broadway in “The Elephant Man”. Also stars in the vampire film “The Hunger”.
1983 – Leaves RCA for EMI and releases “Let’s Dance”, which featured the hits “Let’s Dance,” “Modern Love,” and “China Girl.”
1984 – Wins a Grammy for Best Short Form Video for “David Bowie”.
1980s – Releases “Scary Monster”, “Tonight”, and “Never Let Me Down”.
1988 – Appears in “The Last Temptation of Christ”.
1989 – Forms the group, Tin Machine, and they release two albums.
1992 – Tin Machine breaks up.
January 17, 1996 – Is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1997 – Releases the song “Telling Lies” over the Internet.
June 25, 2004 – While on tour, visits a hospital in Hamburg, Germany for treatment of pain in his arm. Doctors later discover a blocked artery and perform an angioplasty.
2006 – Receives the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
2013 – Releases a new album entitled “The Next Day.”
December 7, 2015 – “Lazarus,” written by Bowie and Edna Walsh opens off-Broadway at the New York City Workshop. The musical is based on the science fiction novel “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” in which Bowie played the lead role in the 1976 movie version.
December 18, 2015 – Bowie releases the title track from the musical. “Lazarus” is one of the tracks on Bowie’s newest album “Blackstar” and is digitally available on NPR music.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “David Bowie Fast Facts”
