David Bowie Height, Weight, Age, Body Statistics

David Bowie was one of the most prominent British musicians. His innovative work and unique music were widely appreciated by the fans as well as the critics. His music albums have topped music charts in several countries and have garnered multiple platinum and gold certifications. Apart from his music, his eventful and promiscuous personal life was also widely discussed in the tabloids. Bowie was also one of the initial music stars who came out and talked about their same-sex attractions. All in all, David Bowie was an influential public figure.

Born Name

David Robert Jones

Nick Name

David Bowie, Bowie, The Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust, The Picasso of Pop, The Dame, The Master of Reinvention, The Chameleon of Rock, Aladdin Sane, Major Tom, The Starman

Age

David Bowie was born on January 8, 1947.

Died

Bowie passed away, at the age of 69, on January 10, 2016, at his home in New York after battling liver cancer for 18 months.

Sun Sign

Capricorn

Born Place

Brixton, London, England

Nationality

Education

Until he turned 6 years old, David Bowie went to the Stockwell Infants School. He later got enrolled at the Burnt Ash Junior School. He left Burnt Ash after having taken his eleven-plus exam. Then, he joined Bromley Technical High School.

Occupation

Singer, Songwriter, Actor

Family

• Father – Haywood Stenton “John” Jones (Promotions Officer for the children’s charity)
• Mother – Margaret Mary “Peggy” Burns (Worked as a waitress at a local cinema)
• Siblings – None
• Others – Robert Haywood Jones (Paternal Grandfather), Zillah Hannah Blackburn (Paternal Grandmother), James Patrick Edward Burns (Maternal Grandfather), Margaret Mary Alice Heaton (Maternal Grandmother), Annette Jones (Paternal Half-Sister), Myra Ann Burns (Maternal Half-Sister), Terry Burns (Maternal Half-Brother)

Genre

Art Rock, Glam Rock, Pop, Electronic, Experimental

Instruments

Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Saxophone

Labels

ISO, RCA, Virgin, EMI, Deram, Mercury, BMG Music Group, Pye, Vocalion, Parlophone, Ryko, Columbia Records

Build

Slim

Height

5 ft 10 in or 178 cm

Weight

70 kg or 154 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

David Bowie had dated –

1. Coco Schwab
2. Queenie
3. Audrey Hamilton
4. Sara Dougherty
5. Geeling Ng
6. Oona Chaplin
7. Claudia Lennear
8. Deborah Leng
9. Lou Reed
10. Helena Springs
11. Iggy Pop
12. Patricia Paay
13. Tony Zanetta
14. Cherry Vanilla
15. Viv Lynn
16. Ronnie Spector
17. Josette Caruso
18. Hermione Farthingale (1967-1969)
19. Elizabeth Taylor
20. Angie Bowie (1969-1980) – In 1969, David Bowie started going out with Angie (real name Mary Angela Barnett). They had met through their mutual friend, a Chinese-American record executive named Dr. Calvin Mark Lee. They got married in March 1970 in a low-key ceremony held at Bromley Register Office in Beckenham Lane, Kent. In May 1971, she gave birth to their son, Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones. However, they officially got divorced in February 1980.
21. Mary Finnigan (1969)
22. Mick Ronson (1970)
23. Lori Maddox (1971)
24. Marianne Faithfull (1971-1972)
25. Dana Gillespie (1971)
26. Cyrinda Foxe (1972)
27. Amanda Lear (1972-1973)
28. Bebe Buell (1973)
29. Romy Haag (1973-1974)
30. Sabel Starr (1973)
31. Lulu (1974)
32. Elizabeth Taylor (1975-1976)
33. Ava Cherry (1976-1979)
34. Candy Clark (1976)
35. Sydne Rome (1979) – Rumor
36. Susan Sarandon (1982)
37. Bianca Jagger (1983)
38. Tina Turner (1984)
39. Melissa Hurley (1987-1990)
40. Iman (1990-2016) – Bowie first met supermodel Iman in 1990 at a blind date set up by their hairdresser. It was reported that they were finding it difficult to meet people because of which they decided to go on a blind date. After a nerve-wracking initial 5 minutes, they got along perfectly and decided to start dating. In April 1992, they got married in a private ceremony in Lausanne. In August 2000, she gave birth to their daughter, Alexandria “Lexi” Zahra Jones.
41. Mick Jagger (1993) – Rumor

Race / Ethnicity

White

He had Irish ancestry on his father’s side and English roots on his mother’s side.

Hair Color

Blonde

Eye Color

Blue

Sexual Orientation

During his lifetime, he changed his public stance on his sexuality on a couple of occasions. In 1972, he publicly claimed that he was gay. Later, he claimed that he was bisexual.

But, then in his 1983 interview with Rolling Stone, he claimed that his bisexuality was a mere sham. However, in his later years, he refused to confirm or deny whether he had any gay relationships or not.

Distinctive Features

His left pupil permanently remained dilated, due to a serious injury he suffered in his school days, which gave an impression that he had different colors of his eyes.

Brand Endorsements

David Bowie had appeared or his music has been used in the TV commercials for the popular brands such as Vittel, XM Satellite Radio, Pepsi, Propel Fitness Water, Lyons Maid ice cream, Louis Vuitton, and Cadillac Escalade.

In 2004, he was also featured, along with his wife Iman, in a print advert for Tommy Hilfiger.

Religion

During the course of his life, David Bowie tried every religion including Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity, and Satanism.

However, he eventually decided to settle down on being an atheist. It has also been reported by the British press that he did become spiritual after he was diagnosed with liver cancer.

Best Known For

• Being one of the finest and most successful music artists of the 20th century. He is estimated to have sold over 140 million albums all over the world.
• In the UK, 11 of his music albums were charted as number one. He had also received 11 gold, 8 silver, and 10 platinum album certifications in the UK.

First Album

In June 1967, he released his debut studio album, David Bowie. However, the album was a commercial failure and even led to Deram Records cancel his recording contract in April 1968.

First Film

In 1969, Bowie made his theatrical film debut in the drama movie, The Virgin Soldiers, which was based on Leslie Thomas’s novel of the similar name. However, his appearance in the movie wasn’t credited.

His first credited theatrical film appearance came in 1976 with the sci-fi drama movie, The Man Who Fell to Earth. His work as the lead character was widely praised and he even won the Saturn Award for Best Actor.

First TV Show

In 1968, David Bowie made his first TV show appearance in The Pistol Shot episode of the drama anthology series, Theatre 625.

David Bowie Favorite Things

• Food – Shepherd’s Pie
• New York City Restaurants – Olive’s, Cafe Reggio, Bottega Falai, Dean & DeLuca, Puck Fair, French Roast
• Music Albums – The Last Poets by The Last Poets, Shipbuilding by Robert Wyatt, The Fabulous Little Richard by Little Richard, Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich, The Velvet Underground & Nico by The Velvet Underground, Tupelo Blues by John Lee Hooker
• Books – The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, The Coast of Utopia (Trilogy) by Tom Stoppard, Teenage: The Creation of Youth, 1875-1945 by Jon Savage, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens

Source – Food & Wine, AM New York, Independent, Telegraph

David Bowie Facts

1. In 1962, he got into a serious altercation with future fellow musician, George Underwood, while at the high school. They had got in a fight over a girl and Underwood punched him hard in the left eye.
2. The eye injury left him requiring a series of operations and he had to be hospitalized for 4 months. However, the doctors couldn’t still repair the damage and he was left with a permanently dilated pupil. Despite the damage, he remained good friends with Underwood.
3. He formed his first music band called the Konrads while he was just 15 years old. They used to perform at weddings and local youth gatherings and George Underwood was also a member of the band.
4. In the mid-60s, he stopped using his stage name as Davy (and Davie) Jones as he was often confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees. He decided to take inspiration from the 19th-century American pioneer, James Bowie and adopted ‘David Bowie’ as his stage name.
5. In 2000, he decided to decline the royal honor of Commander of the British Empire (CBE). In 2003, he also turned down the knighthood.
6. The first musical instrument he learned was a saxophone, which he learned at the age of 12. Over the course of his life, he had learned to play 14 different instruments.
7. He was approached with a proposal to record the music theme for the James Bond movie but he decided to turn the opportunity down as he didn’t like the movie series.
8. In 1985, he was offered the role of Max Zorin in A View to a Kill. However, he decided to turn the offer down as he wasn’t enthusiastic enough for the work.
9. The VH1 placed him in the 12th spot in their 100 Sexiest Artists list. The popular music channel also had him in the 7th spot in their 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll list.
10. In the mid-70s, he had to battle severe heroin addiction. He often used to black out and couldn’t remember or account for his behavior. His song Ashes to Ashes was inspired by his addiction problems.
11. In 1999, the French culture minister Catherine Trautmann decided to honor him with the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.
12. In March 2017, the British Post Office decided to honor him by issuing a set of 10 stamps honoring Bowie. 4 of the stamps had his photograph on while other 6 had his music album covers on.
13. Earlier in his music career, he was employed as junior visualizer at an advertising agency in London.
14. He loved to paint in his free time. He also loved to collect paintings and by the time he passed away, his collection of artworks, which included works by Frank Auerbach, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Henry Moore, was valued at more than £10m.
15. He decided to keep his liver cancer diagnosis a secret as he didn’t want intense media and public attention on his health issues. He died just 2 days after his 69th birthday.
16. Visit his official website @ davidbowie.com.
17. For more updates on David Bowie, you can follow his Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Featured Image by Hermione / Flickr / Public Domain