David Bowie
David Bowie was an English pop and rock star who became popular, not only for his music, but for his bizarre costumes and extravagant music performances. He was seen as a creative figure in pop music, who often reinvented his sound and changed his musical style.
Bowie was born as David Jones in the southern part of London on January 8, 1947. He started playing saxophone at an early age and joined up with many bands during high school. Later on he changed his name to Bowie in order to avoid being mixed up with the lead singer of the Monkees, Davy Jones.
Space Oddity was his first hit. It was written at the time of the first moon landing and introduced Major Tom, a fictional astronaut. In his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Bowie describes the ups and downs of a rock star. Other hit records include Let’s Dance, Fame and Without You.
In the 1970s, David Bowie started an acting career and appeared in several movies. He was admired for his performance in the Broadway play Elephant Man.
Towards the end of the 1990s, Bowie slowly stepped out of spotlight. In 2004, he stopped giving concerts. In the last 15 years, David Bowie’s health deteriorated. He suffered a series of heart attacks and was diagnosed with cancer.
Bowie died on January 10, 2016 , shortly after the release of his latest album Blackstar, which shot to the top position in the UK and US charts. In his last video, Bowie shows himself to his audience in a hospital bed with his eyes bandaged.
David Bowie sold about 140 million records worldwide and became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
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Words
- admire = to respect someone and show them that what they did was good
- appear = to show yourself
- audience = people who watch or listen to a performance
- avoid = get away from
- bandage = to cover parts of your body
- bizarre = strange, unusual
- cancer= serious disease in which the cells in your body start to grow in an uncontrollable way
- creative = to use your imagination to produce new ideas
- deteriorate = to become worse
- diagnose = to find out what kind of a disease a person has
- extravagant = something that costs a lot or is luxurious
- fictional = not real
- heart attack = when your heart stops working
- lead singer = the most important singer in a group
- performance = presentation, acting
- popular = well-known and liked
- record = here: single song
- reinvent = here: to make changes to your musical style
- release = to bring out to the public
- spotlight = focus, attention of the media
- worldwide = around the world