Shapeshifter of Sound
A songwriter and performer who treated identity as a studio instrument, moving through characters, genres and technologies without surrendering craft.
Musician, Songwriter & Performer
Born David Jones in Brixton, he learned saxophone, moved through bands and adopted the name Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones.
Space Oddity made alienation audible as transmission. With the Spiders from Mars and producer Ken Scott, Ziggy Stardust joined songs, costume and concert into one unstable persona.
Bowie shifted through Diamond Dogs and Young Americans toward Station to Station. The work expanded musically while his life became increasingly damaged by cocaine and isolation.
Working with Tony Visconti and Brian Eno, Bowie made Low, “Heroes” and Lodger. The records’ authorship is specific and collaborative: Bowie wrote and performed at their center; musicians and producers shaped their sound.
Let’s Dance brought a new mass audience. Later decades ranged through bands, electronic work and acting; after a long recording pause, The Next Day and Blackstar arrived with renewed precision. He died on 10 January 2016, two days after Blackstar’s release.
