Bowie 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. It was included in his second album "The Man who Sold the World."

Dressed in a striking costume, his hair dyed reddish-brown, Bowie launched his Ziggy Stardust stage show with the Spiders from Mars—Ronson, Bolder and Woodmansey—at the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth on 10 February 1972.The show was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom as he toured the UK over the next six months and creating, as described by Buckley, a "cult of Bowie" that was "unique—its influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom.

Labyrinth is a 1986 fantasy film, directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee and Monty Python alumnus Terry Jones. The leads are David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King, and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Williams. The plot revolves around Sarah's quest to rescue her little brother from the Goblin King while trapped in a world that is an enormous otherworldly maze.

Tin Machine is the debut album of Tin Machine originally released by EMI in 1989. The group was the latest venture of David Bowie, inspired by sessions with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Hunt Sales (drums) and Tony Sales (bass) formed the rest of the band, with "fifth member" Kevin Armstrong providing rhythm guitar.

When David Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, he wasn’t present to accept the honor. Madonna recevied the award in his place. Bowie's innovations created or furthered several major trends in rock and roll, including glam-rock, art-rock and the very notion of the self-mythologized, larger-than-life rock star.

Blackstar (stylised as ★) is the twenty-fifth and final studio album by English singer David Bowie. It was released worldwide on 8 January 2016, Bowie's 69th birthday. Bowie would die two days after its release. Co-producer Tony Visconti described the album as Bowie's intended swan song and a "parting gift" for his fans before his death.