David Bowie Timeline

1947 Jan 8 David Bowie is born
David Bowie born David Robert Hayward-Jones; 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. Active in five decades of popular music and frequently reinventin...
1953 David Bowie's family moves to suburb of Bromley, Kent
David Bowie was born David Robert Hayward-Jones in Brixton, London to parents who were married in September 1947 shortly after his birth. His mother Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns), of ...
1959 Dec 25 David Bowie receives first instrument for Christmas
Bowie's interest in music was sparked at the age of nine when his father brought home a collection of American 45s, including Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and, most particularly, Little Richa...
1962 David Bowie is punched in the eye
When Bowie was fifteen years old, his friend, George Underwood, wearing a ring on his finger, punched him in the left eye during a fight over a girl. Bowie was forced to stay out of schoo...
1966 David Robert Hayward-Jones chooses stage name David Bowie
During the early 1960s, Bowie was performing either under his own name or the stage name "Davie Jones", and briefly even as "Davy Jones", creating confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees...
1967 Jun 1 David Bowie releases self-titled debut album
David Bowie is the eponymously-titled debut album by rock musician David Bowie, released in 1967 by Deram Records, a Decca offshoot. Its content bears little overt resemblance to the type...
1969 Nov 4 David Bowie releases Space Oddity
Space Oddity is a 1969 album by rock musician David Bowie. Originally released by Philips in the UK as David Bowie and by Mercury in the U.S. as Man of Words/Man of Music, it was reissued...
1970 Nov 4 David Bowie releases The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the World is the third studio album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April 1971 in the UK. The a...
1971 Jun 20
to 1971 Jun 24
 Glastonbury Festival 1971
The Festival moved to the time of the Summer Solstice and was known as the "Glastonbury Fayre". It had been planned by Andrew Kerr and Arabella Churchill who felt all other festivals at t...
1971 Dec 17 David Bowie releases Hunky Dory
Hunky Dory is the fourth album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971. It was Bowie's first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next d...
1972 Jun 6 David Bowie releases The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust or simply Ziggy) is a 1972 concept album by English rock musician David Bowie. It peaked a...
1973 Apr 13 David Bowie releases Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane is an album by David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1973 (see 1973 in music). The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Ma...
1973 Oct 19 David Bowie releases Pin Ups
Pin Ups is an album by David Bowie containing cover versions of songs, released by RCA Records in 1973 (see 1973 in music). It was his last studio album with the bulk of 'The Spiders From...
1974 Apr 24 David Bowie releases Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's o...
1975 Mar 7 David Bowie releases Young Americans
Young Americans is an album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1975. With this LP, Bowie made a sudden and jolting step in a new direction, shedding h...
1975 Jul 25 David Bowie releases song Fame
"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975 and in remixed versions, in 1990. With the Young Americans sessions mostly concluded in late 1974, the material was...
1976 Jan 23 David Bowie releases Station to Station
Station to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station i...
1976 May 28 The Man Who Fell to Earth is released
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a 1976 science fiction film directed by Nicolas Roeg, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, about an extraterrestrial who crash lands on E...
1977 Jan 14 David Bowie releases Low
Low is a 1977 album by British musician David Bowie. Widely regarded as one of his most influential releases, Low was the first of the "Berlin Trilogy", a series of collaborations with Br...
1977 Oct 14 David Bowie releases "Heroes"
"Heroes" is an album by David Bowie, released in 1977. The second installment of his 'Berlin Trilogy' with Brian Eno (the other releases being Low and Lodger) "Heroes" developed the sound...
1979 May 18 David Bowie releases Lodger
Lodger is an album by British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 1979. The last of the 'Berlin Trilogy' recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno (though in fact produced in Switze...
1980 Sep 12 David Bowie releases Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-cal...
1983 Apr 14 David Bowie releases Let's Dance
Let's Dance is an album by David Bowie, released in 1983. It is a post-disco album with co-production by Chic's Nile Rodgers. The first three songs on the album, "Modern Love", "China Gir...
1984 Sep 1 David Bowie releases Tonight
Tonight is a 1984 album by David Bowie, featuring collaborations with Tina Turner and a cover of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows". Critics slammed it as a lazy effort, dashed off by Bowie...
1986 Jun 27 "Labyrinth", Directed by Jim Henson, Is Released
Labyrinth is a 1986 fantasy film, directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee...
1987 Apr 27 David Bowie releases Never Let Me Down
Never Let Me Down is an album by David Bowie, released April 1987. It drew some of the harshest criticism of Bowie's career, condemned by critics as a faceless piece of product and ignore...
1989 May 22 David Bowie releases Tin Machine
Tin Machine is the debut album of Tin Machine originally released by EMI in 1989. The group was the latest venture of David Bowie, inspired by sessions with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Hunt...
1990 Sep Adrian Belew appear on the cover of Guitar Player
1991 Sep 2 David Bowie releases Tin Machine II
Tin Machine II is an album by Tin Machine, originally released by Victory Music in 1991. For the American release of the album, the cover was airbrushed to remove the genitalia of the ...
1993 Apr 5 David Bowie releases Black Tie White Noise
Black Tie White Noise is an album by David Bowie. Released in 1993, it was his first solo release in the 1990s—after a critically disappointing experiment in his hard rock band, Tin Machi...
1995 Sep 26 David Bowie releases Outside
Outside is a concept album first released September 26, 1995 by David Bowie on Virgin Records. Outside introduced the characters of one of Bowie's short stories; a "non-linear gothic d...
1997 Jan 30 David Bowie releases Earthling
Earthling is an album by David Bowie released in February 1997 via BMG. The album showcases an electronica-influenced sound partly inspired by the rave culture of the 1990s.
1999 Oct 4 David Bowie releases Hours...
'hours...' is a 1999 album by British musician David Bowie. It was released October 4, 1999 (1999-10-04) on Virgin Records. This was Bowie's final album for the EMI sub-label. A lot of...
2000 Jun 22 Omikron: The Nomad Soul is Released for the Dreamcast
In the end, when you take all of Omikron's various parts and add them together, the game doesn't amount to much. The game's attempt to integrate multiple styles of play just doesn't work,...
2000 Jun 23
to 2000 Jun 25
 Glastonbury Festival 2000
This year saw the return of the pyramid stage (the third pyramid stage) – 100 feet high and clad in dazzling silver. There was more camping space with the introduction of a special fa...
2003 Sep 16 David Bowie releases Heathen
Heathen is an album by the British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 2002. Heathen was considered something of a comeback for Bowie in the U.S. market; it was his highest char...
2003 Sep 16 David Bowie releases Reality
Reality is an album by the British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 2003. The album was well received by fans and critics and was one of Bowie's most critically acclaimed albums...
2006 Oct 20 The Prestige is released
The Prestige is a 2006 British film directed by Christopher Nolan, with a screenplay adapted from Christopher Priest's 1995 World Fantasy Award-winning novel of the same name. The story f...