David BowieIconography

David Bowie 1947 - 2016o David Bowie, who died on January 10th 2016 aged 69,

was one of Britain's most successful and revolutionary musicians. He enjoyed a sparkling career that spanned six decades and saw him become one of the most prevalent recording artists of all time, as well as a brilliant Hollywood actor.

o The chameleonic superstar, who changed his name and then transformed into the infamous ‘Ziggy Stardust’, continued to reinvent himself and his music, as well as maintaining a reputation as a ground-breaking artist.

o Bowie released 111 singles - including five UK number ones, 26 studio albums, 46 compilation albums, five EPs and three soundtracks. He collected dozens of awards, including two Brits Awards, two Grammys and three MTV awards and transferred his artistry to film in 51 music videos.

Ziggy StardustZiggy Stardust is still the most definitive Bowie persona to date. It was his most extensive exercise in creating a background and an actual character to go with his image, so much so that for a while, at least, Ziggy and his creator were largely indistinguishable.

Aladdin SaneAlthough Aladdin Sane lacked Ziggy’s defined personality and back story, representing Bowie’s ambiguity about the entire Ziggy experience, as well as the state of his career and his rising fame. The conflict found its representation in the lightning bolt down the middle of his face, an image that also referred to the mental conflict implied by the character’s name “Aladdin Sane”, a pun on “A lad insane.”

PierrotThe theatricality of Ziggy inspired a whole new generation of glam-influenced musicians, and the flamboyance of Bowie’s creation found perhaps its most extreme expression in the New Romantic movement of the early 1980s. Bowie never entirely embraced this group, but the most enduring image of him from the period is definitely New Romantic-inspired: the lonely, lost Pierrot of the “Ashes to Ashes” video.

Jareth the Goblin KingSummary of the film and Bowie's character Jareth: Jareth, the Goblin King is wants to capture a child, when it just so happens that an angsty teen, Sarah wishes the goblins would take her baby brother away. Jareth then takes her brother and declares that if she wants him back, she has to find her way through my labyrinth. He performs all sorts of tricks to ruin her rescue attempt, but he also falls in love with her.

“I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.”

The Outsider The mid to late ’90s saw David Bowie embracing his ‘outsider’ status and undergoing a remarkable creative renaissance. Outside was a weirdly conceptual, industrial-inspired work that still makes for rather discomfiting listening, while Earthling, made two years later, involved an unexpected and surprisingly successful expedition into drum ‘n’ bass. Both were accompanied by an evolving image that found its fullest expression on the cover of Earthling — goatee, spiky hair, crazy Union Jack jacket.