David Bowie

David Bowie, born David Jones in 1947, was an English singer, songwriter and actor who studied art, music and design before starting out in music in 1962. After a run of unsuccessful singles and a self-titled debut, he broke through in 1969 with "Space Oddity", a UK number five. His real breakthrough came in 1972 with the Ziggy Stardust character and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Bowie kept changing shape: the soul of Young Americans, the Thin White Duke of Station to Station, then the art rock, electronica and ambient experiments of the Berlin Trilogy, Low, "Heroes" and Lodger. Let's Dance in 1983 brought his biggest commercial success. He returned in 2013 with The Next Day, and his final album, Blackstar, arrived two days before his death in 2016.