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David Bowie at the 17th GRAMMY Awards in 1974

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David Bowie, 1947–2016

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Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient succumbs to cancer
THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
Jan 11, 2016 - 4:12 pm

David Bowie, one of rock's most influential artists, died Jan. 10 after a long battle with cancer. His death came just two days after the release of his new album, Blackstar.

Inhabiting numerous different personas throughout his career, from singer/songwriter to alien rocker Ziggy Stardust and avant blue-eyed R&B singer the Thin White Duke, Bowie created an enduring catalog of music that proved instructive to many artists who followed him. Bowie's shifting musical styles, costumes and characters helped open the door for other musicians to explore their wildest imaginations.

"How can a song that someone created in 1977 in a studio in Berlin, travel through the air into a suburban bedroom in 1997 in Houston, Texas, and make all of the 'current' music playing on the radio sound old-fashioned?" wrote Arcade Fire's Win Butler about Bowie's hit "Heroes" for the GRAMMY Awards program book in 2006 on the occasion of Bowie's Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bowie scored arguably his biggest hit in 1983 when the Nile Rodgers-produced "Let's Dance" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He won a GRAMMY for Best Video, Short Form for 1984 for David Bowie. His 1972 landmark glam-rock album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall OF Fame in 1999. 

"[David Bowie] is remembered and celebrated today for his audacious approach to pushing creative boundaries and ability to reinvent himself time and time again, changing the course of pop music in the process," said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow.

Beyoncé headlines Glastonbury 2011

Beyoncé headlines Glastonbury 2011

Photo: Samir Hussein/Getty Images

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BBC To Air Classic Glastonbury Sets From Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Adele, David Bowie, Jay-Z And More In June 2020

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Airing June 25-29, the expansive programming slate celebrates what would have been the festival's 50th anniversary this year
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
May 27, 2020 - 4:53 pm

U.K. broadcaster BBC has announced it will air an expansive slate of classic Glastonbury performances next month in celebration of what would have been the festival's 50th anniversary. Airing June 25-29, the weekend the festival was supposed to take place before it was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March, the multi-day broadcast will feature performances from David Bowie, who's 2000 headlining set will air in full for the first time ever, as well as full headlining performances from GRAMMY winners Beyoncé, Adele, Jay-Z and Coldplay, The Guardian reports.

Other performances confirmed to air include sets from Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Amy Winehouse, The Rolling Stones, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, R.E.M., Arctic Monkeys and many more. 

The broadcast will air in the U.K. on BBC Two and BBC Four as well as on a new pop-up channel on BBC iPlayer, the latter of which will feature more than 60 sets, according to BBC.

The broadcast block will also feature The Best Of BBC Music Introducing At Glastonbury, a specially commissioned film chronicling the rise of several major stars who played the festival's new music stage earlier in their careers like Sheeran, George Ezra, NAO and Celeste, according to The Guardian. BBC will also air Glastonbury, the 2006 documentary and concert film. 

As well, national and local BBC radio stations and the BBC Sounds app will air and feature archived performances and new interviews.

Read: U.K.'s Wireless Festival Announces Wireless Connect Virtual Reality Festival, Set For July 2020

"I'm looking forward to a weekend of reflecting on the history of our festival and going back to some classic performances from David Bowie, Adele, REM, Beyoncé, the Rolling Stones, Jay-Z, Billie Eilish and lots more," Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis told The Guardian. "Me and my dad will definitely be watching." 

Originally set to take place June 24–28 at Worthy Farm, Somerset, U.K., Glastonbury 2020 was to feature headliners and major artists like Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift and Diana Ross, among many other acts.

Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

David Bowie in 1969

David Bowie in 1969

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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David Bowie's "Space Oddity" Getting Special Reissue For 50th Anniversary

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The 1969 single, from the GRAMMY winner's second album, was his first hit and the world's introduction to Major Tom
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
May 10, 2019 - 1:38 pm

On July 11, 1969, the world was properly introduced to the visionary shapeshifter David Bowie with "Space Oddity," the lead single to his second studio album, David Bowie [Space Oddity]. The song became the GRAMMY winner's first hit (of many) in the U.S. and his native U.K.

Now, thanks to a 50th anniversary vinyl reissue via Parlophone, we can experience the launching of our favorite spaceman all over again.

The 50th anniversary box set, which is available for pre-order now, will be released on July 12. It will include two 7" vinyls, the first of which features the original single edit of "Space Oddity," cut from the original analog master tape, along with "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" on the B side, another track from Bowie's sophomore album.

The second record will feature two all-new mixes of both tracks, from longtime Bowie collaborator and GRAMMY-winning producer Tony Visconti. Visconti's mix of "Space Oddity" will also be released as a digital single on July 12.

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control. / I'm stepping through the door / And I'm floating in a most peculiar way. / And the stars look very different today." Bowie's compelling storytelling and dreamy sounds explored on "Space Oddity" undeniably still resonate in our minds and our music to this day.

The song's otherworldly nature was born from sci-fi inspiration. As the press release details, it was "inspired by Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, [and] gained huge popularity when it was adopted as the unofficial theme of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission which launched five days after the single's release."

More Bowie: David Bowie's '…Ziggy Stardust…' | For The Record

This special-edition vinyl follows several other recent ones from U.K. record label Parlophone to continue the legacy of the incomparable Bowie, including several demo track releases. Last month, they announced The Mercury Demos, originally recorded in 1969. At the start of the year they revealed the forthcoming Spying Through A Keyhole, another set of early Bowie demos, including what is believed to be the first demo recording of "Space Oddity."

During his prolific career reshaping music, art and fashion, Bowie won five GRAMMY Awards, as well as a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. In 2018, "Space Oddity" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, joining his "Changes" and The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

"Space Oddity": 7 Facts About David Bowie's Cosmic Ballad | GRAMMY Hall Of Fame

David Bowie

David Bowie

Photo: Gregory Pace/FilmMagic

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David Bowie Wins Greatest 20th Century Entertainer In BBC Poll

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BBC viewers placed Bowie at the pinnacle, above Charlie Chaplin, Billie Holiday and Marilyn Monroe
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jan 18, 2019 - 1:56 pm

On Jan. 16, BBC revealed David Bowie was the winner of its viewer poll for greatest entertainer of the 20th century. His competition included Charlie Chaplin, Billie Holiday and Marilyn Monroe.

The poll was held as part of BBC Two's "Icons" series, which also spotlights explorers, leaders and scientists. The winners in those categories respectively were Ernest Shackleton, Nelson Mandela and Alan Turing, placing Bowie in the poll's final round for greatest 20th century icon. The series' bio for Bowie describes him as "an innovator constantly at music's cutting edge."

Bowie died in 2016 and posthumously won four categories at the 59th GRAMMY Awards for his final album, Blackstar, and its title track, for a career total of five wins. Additionally, in 2006 he was honored with the Recording Academy's Lifetime and Achievement Award. The icon also has two singles and one album in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame: 1969's "Space Oddity," 1972's "Changes" and 1972's The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.

A Bowie Celebration Announces Tour Dates

Mike Garson

Mike Garson 

Photo: Chris McKay/Getty Images

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A Bowie Celebration Announces Tour Dates

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A Bowie Celebration will tour cities in Europe in Jan. and early Feb., before hitting U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Houston and New York City
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Jan 14, 2019 - 4:50 pm

David Bowie's backing bands are heading out on tour to continue the GRAMMY winner's legacy for the third year in a row.

A Bowie Celebration will tour cities in Europe in Jan. and early Feb., before hitting U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Houston and New York City until March. 

The tour is formed by Bowie's "longest-leading and most frequent band member" Mike Garson, guitarist Earl Sick, bassist Carmine Rojas, multi-instrumentalist Mark Plati, guitarist Charlie Sexton and vocalists Bernard Fowler and Corey Glover, according to Rolling Stone.

The magazine reports that the band has been joined by several guest vocalists in the past, including Perry Farrell and Evan Rachel Wood, and plays hits like "Rebel Rebel" and "Ziggy Stardust."

"One way or another, David is continuously there with us,” Garson said in a statement. “He’s on stage each night, in the audience and always in the very essence of each song. We do these shows for the fans who’ve loved David and his music, and for those who are new to his music-they’re about to get hooked. Through this process of the celebration of his music, we do these shows for David who is a constant presence in our minds, hearts and soul."

For more information on the tour see here.

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