Artist
David Bowie
WINS*
5
NOMINATIONS*
19
59th Annual GRAMMY Awards
WINNER
Best Rock Performance
Blackstar
View All Nominations For This Artist
Through the 65th GRAMMY Awards
"I suppose for me as an artist, it wasn't just about expressing my work. I really wanted, more than anything else, to contribute in some way to the culture I was living in."
- Born David Robert Jones on Jan. 8, 1947, in New York City. Died Jan. 10, 2016, in New York City.
- David Bowie burst onto the scene with his 1969 song "Space Oddity." The track, which was released as a 7-inch single, served as the opening song on his second studio album, David Bowie. Three years later, the boundary-pushing singer introduced his glam rock alter ego Ziggy Stardust and the 1972 album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.
- In 2006 Bowie was awarded a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. His 1972 single "Changes" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2017.
- Lady Gaga performed a medley in tribute to the late icon on the 58th GRAMMY Awards.
- During the 59th GRAMMY Awards in 2017, the singer's legacy was honored when his 2016 album, Blackstar, swept all five awards it was nominated for: Best Rock Performance; Best Alternative Music Album; Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical; Best Recording Package; and Best Rock Song.
- Did you know? Bowie changed his name to David Bowie so as to avoid confusion with Davy Jones from The Monkees.
- In 2012, the GRAMMY Museum honored the 40th anniversary of The Rise and Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars with a special screening of the D.A. Pennebaker documentary/concert film, which featured Bowie and his backing group, The Spiders From Mars, performing at the Hammersmith Odeon on July 3, 1973.
- Bowie launched a campaign against African starvation with his single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" He helped raise awareness for HIV/AIDS in the late '90s. He also worked with the Keep a Child Alive nonprofit as well as contributed to Save the Children, Every Mother Counts, 21st Century Leaders, and The Lunchbox Fund, among other charities.