David Bowie for more than five decades was a major figure in rock music.
Time and again, through hard rock and glam rock, dabbling in commercially oriented pop as well as industrial and jungle, Bowie reinvented himself time and time again, each time attracting a new set of fans.
You won’t want to miss The Music of David Bowie at the Grand Rapids Symphony’s 2016 D&W Fresh Market Picnic Pops, coming to Cannonsburg Ski Area on Aug. 2.
Windborne Music with lead singer Tony Vincent joins the Grand Rapids Symphony in a salute to David Bowie’s biggest hits at Cannonsburg Ski Area for one-night only on Aug. 2.
David Bowie, who sold more than 140 million albums in his five-decade career, died in January from liver cancer just four days after releasing his 25th album, “Blackstar,” which has dominated worldwide record sales this year.
Odds are, you know many of his songs including “Starman, “Fame,” “Let’s Dance,” music, but you may not know everything about the Bowie, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
Here are 13 things you may not know about David Bowie:
1. His real name is David Robert Jones; he changed his name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones from The Monkees.
2. Elvis Presley and Bowie share the same birthday: January 8.
3. His first television appearance was in 1964, at the age of 17, he was interviewed on a BBC program as the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men.
4. His 1973 album Pin Ups, features him on the cover alongside iconic ‘60s model Twiggy.
5. A young Luther Vandross was hired by Bowie to sing backup and create the vocal arrangements on his 1975 album Young Americans
6. The now Christmas classic, “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy,” was originally supposed to be just a duet of the “Little Drummer Boy.” Bowie reportedly hated the song “Little Drummer Boy” and only agreed to do the duet with Bing if he sang another song.
7. His hit song “Fame,” was co-written by John Lennon, who also sang backing vocals.
8. Toni Basil, best known for her hit song “Mickey,” worked as Bowie’s choreographer for his Diamond Dogs Tour in 1974, and Glass Spider Tour in 1987.
9. Even though it was a huge hit single, Bowie never performed the song “Under Pressure” before a live audience until the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. He and Annie Lennox sang it as a duet, backed by the surviving members of Queen.
10. He did the voice (gurgling) for the baby in the song “Magic Dance,” in the movie Labyrinth:
11. In 1988, Bowie played Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.
12. Bowie voiced the character of Lord Royal Highness on an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants in 2007.
13. Bowie’s left pupil was permanently dilated for most of his life after being punched in the eye by his friend George Underwood. They were fighting over a girl.