Top 10 Amazing Facts about David Bowie

Photo by Arthur – Wikimedia

Top 10 Amazing Facts about David Bowie

David Robert Jones well known as David Bowie was born on the 8^th of January, 1947 in London, United Kingdom. He was a songwriter, singer, and actor.

The music industry ranked him as the most influential musician of the 20^th century.

Bowie was also a family man. He was married to Angie Bowie from 1970 to 1980. Twelve years later he got married again to Iman from 1992 to the time of his death.

He had two children namely Alexandria Zahra Jones and Duncan Jones.

He had anisocoria on one of his eyes which got injured in a simple fight between him and his friend, George Underwood. The two were fighting over a girl. Bowie and Underwood became friends at nine which lasted for years and they even worked together in the music industry.

Moreover, he changed his name to Bowie to avoid confusion between him and another British musician who was using a similar brand name, Davy Jone. Bowie’s life had a number of challenges other than the eye.

His brother was battling mental health issues and he committed suicide. Later on, Bowie was struggling with drugs and personal emotional problems. He had unexpected behaviors like keeping his urine in the refrigerator.

Bowie died on the 10^th of January, 2016 in New York, United states. This was after an 18 months of suffering from liver cancer. The following are the most amazing facts about David Bowie.

1. David changed his name to a Bowie

His initial name was David Robert Jones. As he grew in his music career, he thought of using ‘Davy Jones’ as his brand name.

Unfortunately, another British musician was using a similar name at the time.

This called for a change of his name from David Jones to David Bowie to avoid confusion between them.

2. David had an Anisocoria of his eye

Photo by AVRO – Wikimedia

Anisocoria is having a permanently dilated pupil.

When he was 15 years old, he ended up in a fight with his friend, Underwood. This was because of a girl. His eye got injured.

The public was confused then injury from heterochromia, having two eyes of different colors.

The two friends were on good terms. They released a collaboration music album. Underwood helped design album covers of several songs done by Bowie.

3. David’s eye took more than one beating

Other than the friendly fight with George Underwood for a girl, his eye had another injury. In a concert, while performing in Oslo, Norway, a fan threw a lollipop onto the stage. Unluckily, the lollipop somehow managed to strike Bowie’s eye and stuck.

One of the crew members managed to remove it. Bowie did not leave the concert even after that. He went on with his performance.

4. David and Peter Frampton were Boyhood Friends

The two attended Bromley Technical High school. Frampton’s dad was Bowie’s art teacher. Their friendship began while young despite Bowie being three years older. They had a unique bond in music. The friendship was broken by Bowie’s death.

5. David founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

Photo by Adam Bielawski – Wikimedia

At the age of 17 years, Bowie formed this organization. It was aimed at protesting the treatment that he and other men were undergoing for having long hair. In those days, long hair on men was not common. There were several challenges facing those who took it as fashion and kept theirs long.

In a BBC, Bowie was seen and heard to take the matter seriously. He explained the role of the organization. In addition, he expressed the personal feeling of going through hell for the courage of keeping long hair.

He called out to the men with that kind of hair to unite and stand strong for their curls.

6. His Music was Inspired by his Brother

Photo by AVRO – Wikimedia

He had written songs like Aladdin Sane, All the Madmen, and Jump They Say. All this was seen to be reflecting on his brother who battled with mental health issues throughout his life.

At long last, the brother committed suicide after fleeing from the hospital that he was admitted to.

7. Bowie Feared of Witchcraft

There was a period when Bowie was struggling with drugs and emotional problems.

He was living a cocooned existence in Los Angeles. His meal for survival was a diet of peppers and milk.

He had disconnected himself from the real world. The behaviors he exhibited were strange. For example, he kept his urine in the refrigerator so that no wizard could use it to enchant him.

8. A Rock of Bowie’s Hair was Sold for $18750

His hair had been stripped by a wig mistress, at Madame Tussauds in London. After he passed, the lock went up on auction.

It was taken as a part of an entertainment and music memorabilia signature auction.

Bowie had changed the music forever and the fans were hungry for his presence.

An explanation for the auction was brought out that the lock was to bring the fan closer to the musician. The auction was aimed to be $2000 to $4000. Amazingly, it went up to $18750.

9. The Unbuilt Lightning Bolt Sculpture in Bowies Tribute

A giant red and electric blue lightning bolt was targeted to be built in Bowie’s birthplace in his tribute.

This came up from an inspiration caused by Bowie’s face paint in the photographer, Brian Duffy, album cover.

The fans were moved by the idea and came together to fundraise for the project. Unfortunately, the collected amount of money was only $60000 of the $1 million needed. This caused the project to fail.

10. Bowie was a Voracious Reader

Photo by Les Zg – Wikimedia

He was mostly known of being a musician. However, Bowie was a major bookworm who often read a book a day.

The Art Gallery of Ontario compiled a list of a hundred of his best and most favorite books. They used the list for exhibition purposes.

The list was eclectic, encompassing everything from authors like Alfred Doblin (Berlin Alexanderplatz) and Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys).

The above are some of the most amazing facts about David Bowie, the great musician. Other than being a musician, he was a friend to many and a family man too. In addition, he was a bookworm. One of his major inspirations in music was his brother.

He had a fear of witchcraft, struggled with drugs and personal information. Moreover, he had an injured eye but not different colored eyes. He founded an organization to support men with the courage of having long hair.

On the other hand, his hair lock was sold at an expensive price.

Luckily, one of his songs was playing inside a Tesla launched to space. His fans had a project to build a giant red and electric blue lightning bolt in his commemoration and as a tribute but they didn’t have enough funds.