David Bowie: Complete Timeline 1947–2016
An interactive visual timeline of David Bowie's entire life and career — every album, tour, film, persona, and milestone.
Early Life: 1947–1963
8 January 1947: David Robert Jones is born at 40 Stansfield Road, Brixton, London, to Haywood Stenton “John” Jones and Margaret Mary “Peggy” Burns. 1953: The Jones family moves to Bromley, Kent, where David attends Burnt Ash Junior School. 1958:Receives his first saxophone — a Grafton acrylic alto saxophone — as a gift from his father, sparking a lifelong passion for the instrument.
Early 1962: At Bromley Technical High School, his friend George Underwood punches him in the left eye during a dispute over a girl, permanently damaging the sphincter muscles of his pupil and creating the distinctive anisocoria that would become one of his most recognisable features. 1962–1963:Forms his first bands, including the Konrads and the King Bees, playing a mixture of R&B, rock and roll, and blues at local venues across southeast London.
Finding His Voice: 1964–1969
1964–1966: Records with a succession of bands — the Manish Boys, the Lower Third, and the Buzz — releasing several singles on various labels without commercial success. Adopts the stage name David Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees. 1 June 1967: Releases his self-titled debut album on Deram Records; it fails to chart.
1967–1968: Studies mime with Lindsay Kemp, an experience that profoundly shapes his approach to performance. 11 July 1969: Releases “Space Oddity”, timed to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landing; the single reaches number five in the UK charts, providing his first significant commercial success.
The Glam Revolution: 1970–1974
1970: Recruits guitarist Mick Ronson, forming the core of what will become the Spiders from Mars. Releases The Man Who Sold the World. 20 March 1971: Marries Angela Barnett (Angie Bowie). December 1971: Releases Hunky Dory, containing “Changes,” “Life on Mars?,” and “Oh! You Pretty Things.”
June 1972: Releases The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, creating the iconic Ziggy Stardust persona. 30 May 1971: Son Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones (Duncan Jones) is born. April 1973: Releases Aladdin Sane. 3 July 1973: Retires Ziggy Stardust on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon. 1974: Releases Diamond Dogs and launches the Diamond Dogs Tour.
America and Berlin: 1975–1979
1975: Relocates to Los Angeles. Releases Young Americans, featuring the number-one single “Fame” (co-written with John Lennon). The Thin White Duke persona emerges. 1976: Stars in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth. Releases Station to Station. Moves to Berlin with Iggy Pop.
January 1977: Releases Low, the first album of the Berlin Trilogy, produced with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti. October 1977: Releases “Heroes”. 1979: Releases Lodger, completing the Berlin Trilogy.
Superstardom and Reinvention: 1980–1999
1980: Releases Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). Divorces Angie Bowie, receiving sole custody of their son Duncan. 1981: Records “Under Pressure” with Queen. 1983: Releases Let's Dance, becoming a global mainstream superstar. 1986: Stars as Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth.
1989–1992: Forms and records with the band Tin Machine. 24 April 1992: Marries supermodel Iman in Florence. 1993–1997: Returns to solo work with albums including 1. Outside and Earthling. 15 August 2000:Daughter Alexandria Zahra Jones (“Lexi”) is born.
Silence and Farewell: 2000–2016
2002: Releases Heathen, widely praised as a return to form. 2003: Releases Reality and tours extensively. 25 June 2004: Suffers a heart attack backstage at the Hurricane Festival in Scheessel, Germany. Undergoes emergency angioplasty. 2004–2012: Withdraws almost entirely from public life during his decade of silence, living quietly in New York with Iman and Lexi.
8 January 2013: On his sixty-sixth birthday, releases the single “Where Are We Now?” without prior announcement, ending a decade of silence. March 2013: Releases The Next Day. 8 January 2016: Releases Blackstar on his sixty-ninth birthday. 10 January 2016: Dies at his home in Manhattan after an eighteen-month battle with liver cancer, surrounded by his family. His death, just two days after Blackstar's release, transforms the album into one of the most extraordinary farewell statements in the history of art.