Trivia

His eyes were both blue. However, one pupil was permanently dilated due to an incident when he was punched by a school friend, George Underwood, when he was 15, and as a result, one eye looked darker than the other. Underwood became a successful artist and remained a friend of Bowie's for the rest of his life; in fact, Underwood designed artwork for him.

Was one of the first artists to pay tribute to Freddie Mercury following his death in 1991 and performed at The Freddie Mercury Tribute: Concert for AIDS Awareness (1992). Bowie was also a friend of his glam-rock contemporary Marc Bolan, whose funeral he attended in 1977. Elton John revealed in an interview with T"he Evening Standard" following Bowie's death that he had been close to Bowie during their early careers, they had spent time together at music venues and gay clubs, but they had also fallen out back in the 1970s due to comments Bowie made about John to "Rolling Stone" magazine. He said they were never close again after that. Nevertheless, John performed a version of "Space Oddity" in a concert as a tribute to Bowie following his death.

Took the pseudonym "David Bowie" to keep himself from being confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees.

Declined the royal honor of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000, and turned down a knighthood in 2003.

Was the first major recording artist to release a song only on the Internet.

Early in his career he was once snubbed by The Beatles' Apple record label.

On 5/12/13 NASA astronaut Chris Hadfield paid tribute to Bowie by singing the song "Space Oddity", which he did inside the ISS before returning to Earth. He uploaded the video on YouTube, which became a huge success. The video was taken down because of copyright infringement. When Bowie found out about this, he personally contacted YouTube, saying that he gave full permission for his song to be used. It took several hours before YouTube realized that it was Bowie himself who called them, and they put the video back within minutes.

Was the first sexually ambiguous British pop star, declaring himself "gay" in 1972 (before contemporaries such as Freddie Mercury and Elton John made declarations that they were bisexual) and only five years since male homosexuality had been decriminalized in the UK. In a magazine interview, he stated that he met his first wife when they were in a relationship with the same man. Whether this was true or a joke has been the subject of much speculation. His appearance on Top of the Pops (1964) in 1972 with "Starman", when he put his arm around guitarist Mick Ronson, has been cited by many as a key moment for gay liberation in Britain and described by journalist Caitlin Moran as "the gay moon landing". In a 1983 interview with "Rolling Stone", Bowie stated that his bisexuality was really a sham. He claimed he made the story up to create more mystery about himself and defined himself as a "closet heterosexual". In later years he would neither confirm nor deny he had engaged in gay relationships, merely admitting (in a 2002 interview by Jonathan Ross) that he'd been "incredibly promiscuous". Dancer Lindsay Kemp has often claimed in interviews that he slept with Bowie.

Had one son in 1971 with his then-wife Angie Bowie, originally named Zowie, who later changed it to Joe and who is known as Duncan Jones. Duncan was Bowie's best man at his 1992 wedding to Iman. He studied at a film school in London and became a successful writer and director.

On 6/25/04 had an emergency angioplasty in Germany while on tour. The remainder of the tour was canceled.

In July 2004 he underwent triple heart bypass surgery following a heart attack. He also gave up his 50-cigarettes-a-day smoking habit in the same year.

Inducted into the Science-Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in June 2013.

Often said he was ''a collector'', and people close to him said he rarely threw anything away. He made remarks in his 20s that sounded megalomaniacal at the time, saying that he envisioned collecting everything he did in his life and organizing it all meticulously in archives. He wasn't kidding: he did make good on his intent. He saved all his handwritten lyrics, all his stage outfits once he retired them, paintings and art pieces he made, and everything else he valued that he created during his life's work, and had them stored under meticulous security in Switzerland, organized and archived as he said he would.

Shortly after his passing, fans from Berlin, Germany, started a petition to change the name of the "Hauptstraße" in Berlin Schöneberg into "David-Bowie-Straße" (David Bowie Street). The reason behind it was that he lived there from 1976-78, a time that is not only credited for saving his career, but for saving his life, as he was still fighting his drug addiction at the time. During that period he produced three of his most successful albums, "Low", "Heroes" and "Lodger", which are collectively known as the Berlin Trilogy.

Played 14 different instruments. The first one he learned was the saxophone at the age of 12, and played it on several of his own songs. Although a talented rhythm guitarist (he played the famous riff of "Rebel Rebel"), he found himself lacking in ability as a lead guitarist.

Met wife-to-be Iman in October 1990 through mutual hairstylist Teddy Antolin after Bowie had earlier 'discovered' the supermodel in the pages of a fashion magazine aboard a plane between tour gigs. He proposed to her under the Pont Neuf bridge on the River Seine while serenading her with the love song "April in Paris".

Appeared in Bing Crosby's last television show before his death, a Christmas special taped in London that aired after Crosby's death in December 1977. It is memorable for Crosby and Bowie singing a duet of "The Little Drummer Boy": Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas (1977).

Bob Geldof envisaged him as singing the first line on "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid. However, Bowie was unavailable for the recording, so Paul Young sang it instead, as it was felt he had the closest voice to Bowie of all the performers participating. Bowie did get to eventually sing the opening of the song at the Live Aid (1985) finale at Wembley Stadium.

Went through a heroin addiction, which resulted in him blacking out and unable to account for his own behavior for much of the mid-'70s. His song "Ashes to Ashes" documents his struggles with drugs.

His daughter, with Iman, Alexandria Zahra Jones, was born on 8/15/2000.

Performed (on separate occasions) with Queen, Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, Al B. Sure!, Tina Turner, Annie Lennox, Nine Inch Nails and Bing Crosby.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 (by Madonna) and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.

Known for his sense of style, he has been described by director Geoff Wonfor as "one of only three people in music who really looked good in a suit. The others are Bryan Ferry and Robert Palmer".

Born and raised in London. His father, Haywood Stenton Jones, was originally from Yorkshire but of Welsh descent. His mother, Margaret Mary Jones, was from Kent and of Irish ancestry. Haywood Stenton Jones was from an affluent family who were partners in the Public Benefit Boot Co. Bowie resided in New York City from 1992 until his death.

In 1968 while he was still a struggling artist, he wrote some English lyrics to a French song titled "Comme d'Habitude" ("As Usual"). His version, "Even a Fool Learns to Love", never did get recorded, but when the French melody caught the attention of Paul Anka, he reworked the lyrics and the song became "My Way". Of course, when Frank Sinatra recorded "My Way" his way, it turned to gold.

Was the winner of the British Phonographic Industry Award for British Male Solo Artist in 1984 following the success of his multi-million-selling album "Let's Dance". He was also the winner of the 1996 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution. In 2014, He became the oldest person to date to win the British Male Solo Artist award following the success of his comeback album "The Next Day". He was more than 40 years older than the other nominees. In 2017 he became the first posthumous winner of the British Male Solo Artist award following the success of his final album, "Blackstar".

Was consistently listed in later life as one of the wealthiest British music stars in the world. In November 1997 "Business Age" magazine inaccurately reported his net worth as being over $900 million, surpassing even that of fellow British musician Paul McCartney, making him Britain's richest rock star. In 1999 Reuters mistakenly approximated his net worth at roughly $917 million. In 2003 the "Sunday Express" also mistakenly cited his net worth as in the $900-million (£510-million) range, but that placed him second to Paul McCartney. However, in 2005 the "Sunday Times" Rich List re-estimated his fortune at $185 million (£100 million). Following his death in 2016 at age 69, his estate, which was mainly bequeathed to his widow and two children, was valued at "a mere" $100 million (£70 million).

Cited Little Richard as his first musical influence, hearing him at the age of eight,and, according to producer Nile Rodgers, he was a key influence on Bowie's most commercially successful album, "Let's Dance". He drew from a wide range of musical influences from his earliest days. In 2015 British music publication "Mojo" released a compilation album of 15 tracks by his earliest influences. It comprised tracks by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bobby Bland, Ronnie Ross, Frank Sinatra, Jacques Brel, Lotte Lenya, Nina Simone, Nat 'King' Cole, Billy Fury, Anthony Newley, The Flares, Vince Taylor, The Yardbirds and The Pretty Things.

Revealed that he turned down a lucrative opportunity to record a theme song for a James Bond film because he didn't like the franchise. He was also originally approached to play Max Zorin in A View to a Kill (1985), but turned it down citing his lack of enthusiasm for the script. The role went to Christopher Walken instead. He was also considered for the role of The Joker in Batman (1989) and Max Shreck in Batman Returns (1992), but turned down the latter to appear in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). He turned down the role of Captain Hook in Hook (1991), which went to Dustin Hoffman. He was also seriously considered for the role of Sharaz Jek in The Caves of Androzani: Part One (1984).

Voted the 39th Greatest Artist in Rock 'n' Roll by "Rolling Stone".

Loosely the basis for the film Velvet Goldmine (1998).

When he was just a child--perhaps two to four years old--his parents enrolled him in what is called "infant's school" in Britain (in the US it would be considered "nursery school" or "preschool"). His teachers said that during the music and dance parts of the days, he astonished them with his grace and poise of movement. They said they had never witnessed a child so young able to move like that.

Awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. on 2/12/97.

Was a big fan of The Velvet Underground. He later recorded with and produced the band's songwriter Lou Reed. He also frequently collaborated as a songwriter with Iggy Pop from The Stooges. Bowie, Reed and Pop are all considered to be among the most influential rock musicians of all time. Bowie included a version of "China Girl", which he had written with Pop in the 1970s (and had been recorded by Pop on his 1977 album "The Idiot"), on his 1983 album "Let's Dance" in order to help Pop financially. The song became one of Bowie's biggest international hits. Following Bowie's death, Pop described Bowie's friendship as "the light of my life".

Was Denis Villeneuve first choice for the role of Niander Wallace in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) but passed away before the start of the production. The role went to Jared Leto.

Was credited as himself in Zoolander (2001). He was the judge of the fashion "walk-off" between Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller.

Considered "Tonight" (released in 1984) and "Never Let Me Down" (released in 1987) to be his weakest albums. Both were critically panned and led to Bowie forming the group Tin Machine in an attempt to shed his mainstream audience and reinvent himself as a creative force. Despite his low opinion of these albums, he did later choose a song from each album ("Loving the Alien" from "Tonight" and "Time Will Crawl" from "Never Let Me Down") as among his 15 favorite tracks from his own career for the 2008 compilation album "iSelect".

In March 2003 his 1972 album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" came eighth in "Classic Rock Magazine"'s list of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time.

Was a major influence on Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks of the progressive rock band Genesis, who both followed his career from the early days in the 1960s. Banks became a fan from buying a copy of his 1966 single "Can't Help Thinking About Me", which he loved for its unusual chords. His song "Heroes" was recorded by Gabriel on his album "Scratch My Back", released in 2010. It was a very different arrangement from Bowie's original, with Gabriel's voice accompanied only by orchestral instruments.

Asked Stevie Ray Vaughan to play guitar on the album "Let's Dance" after seeing Double Trouble perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Was naturally left-handed but chose to play a right-handed guitar. He taught himself to play right-handed as there simply weren't enough left-handed guitars in the shops in post-war Great Britain.

Was the main inspiration for Tilda Swinton's character in A Bigger Splash (2015), rock musician Marianne Lane. Swinton appeared next to Bowie on the music video for his song "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)".

Awarded Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by French culture minister Catherine Trautmann in 1999.

In 2005 he sang a duet with Kasper Eistrup on the album "No Balance Palace" by the Danish rock band Kashmir.

Played Serbian/American scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006).

His paternal grandfather was killed at the end of World War I.

Mentioned in the lyrics of the theme tune for Only Fools and Horses (1981), one of the UK's most popular sitcoms of all time.

Contributed the song "Everyone Says Hi" to the all-star War Child album "Hope", which assisted child victims of the war in Iraq, in 2003.

His first four albums--"David Bowie" (1967), "David Bowie" (1969) (also subsequently titled "Space Oddity"), "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970) and "Hunky Dory" (1971)--all failed to chart in the UK on their initial release. He first entered the album chart with "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" in 1972.

Was very good friends with the rock band Queen, especially Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor who he had known since about 1968/69. He got to know them on the college band circuit and was a frequent visitor to Shepherds Bush market , where Freddie and John ran a second hand clothes stall.