david bowie born david robert jones 8 january 1947 is an english singer songwriter multiinstrumentalist record producer arranger and actor he is also a painter and collector of fine art bowie boi has been a major figure in the world of popular music for over four decades and is renowned as an innovator particularly for his work in the 1970s he is known for his distinctive voice as well as the intellectual depth and eclecticism of his work aside from his musical abilities he is recognised for his androgynous beauty which was an iconic element to his image particularly in the 1970s and 1980sbowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in july 1969 when his song space oddity reached the top five of the uk singles chart after a threeyear period of experimentation he reemerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant androgynous alter ego ziggy stardust spearheaded by the hit single starman and the album the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars bowies 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 relatively shortlived ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention musical innovation and striking visual presentationin 1975 bowie achieved his first major american crossover success with the numberone single fame and the hit album young americans which the singer characterised as plastic soul the sound constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his uk devotees he then confounded the expectations of both his record label and his american audiences by recording the minimalist album low 1977the first of three collaborations with brian eno over the next two years low heroes and lodger the socalled berlin trilogy albums all reached the uk top five and received lasting critical praise after uneven commercial success in the late 1970s bowie had uk number ones with the 1980 single ashes to ashes its parent album scary monsters and super creeps and under pressure a 1981 collaboration with queen he then reached a new commercial peak in 1983 with lets dance which yielded several hit singles throughout the 1990s and 2000s bowie continued to experiment with musical styles including blueeyed soul industrial adult contemporary and jungle he has not toured since the 200304 reality tour and has not performed live since 2006 bowies latest studio album the next day was released in march 2013david buckley says of bowie his influence has been unique in popular culturehe has permeated and altered more lives than any comparable figure in the bbcs 2002 poll of the 100 greatest britons bowie was placed at number 29 throughout his career he has sold an estimated 140 million albums in the uk he has been awarded nine platinum album certifications 11 gold and eight silver and in the us five platinum and seven gold certifications in 2004 rolling stone ranked him 39th on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time and 23rd on their list of the best singers of all time