Jan. 8: David Bowie, "Ziggy Stardust," is 64 today.

Born David Robert Jones, Bowie has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Bowie is known for his distinctive voice and recognized as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s.

Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when the song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, and the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture." The Ziggy persona was indicative of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and unique visuals.

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In 1975, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number-one single "Fame," co-written with John Lennon, and the hit album Young Americans, which the singer characterised as "plastic soul."

He then switched gears by recording the minimalist album Low in 1977 —the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno. The "Berlin Trilogy" albums,as they're now known,  all reached the UK top five and garnered lasting critical praise.

After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes" and its parent album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). He paired with Queen for the 1981 UK chart-topping single "Under Pressure," then reached a new commercial peak in 1983 with the album Let's Dance, and its hit singles "Let's Dance," "China Girl," and "Modern Love."

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including blue-eyed soul, industrial, adult contemporary, and jungle. His last recorded album was Reality in 2003, which was supported by the 2003–2004 Reality Tour.

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Bowie's 1969 commercial breakthrough, the song "Space Oddity," won him an Ivor Novello Special Award For Originality. For his performance in the 1976 science fiction film The Man Who Fell to Earth, he won a Saturn Award for Best Actor. In the ensuing decades he has been honoured with numerous awards for his music and its accompanying videos, receiving, among others, two Grammy Awards and two BRIT Awards.

In 1999, Bowie was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. That same year, he received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

Bowie declined the British honour Commander of the British Empire in 2000, and a knighthood in 2003. At the time he said, "I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don't know what it's for. It's not what I spent my life working for."

In the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29. Rolling Stone ranked him 39th on their list of the "100 Greatest Rock Artists of All Time," and 23rd on their list of the best singers of all-time.

Throughout his career, he has sold an estimated 136 million albums. In the United Kingdom, he has been awarded 9 Platinum album certifications, 11 Gold and 8 Silver, and in the United States, 5 Platinum and 7 Gold certifications. In 2004,

Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 17 January 1996.


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