David Bowie and his contributions

Subject: Art
Type: Analytical Essay
Pages: 3
Word count: 816
Topics: Biography, Fashion, LGBT, Music, Pop Art, Popular Culture
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Motivated by a completely more profound dynamic than most pop musicians, David Bowie possessed a unique universe of unusual sounds and perpetual vision. Unwilling to remain on the treadmill of rock legend and maintaining a strategic distance from the plunge into regularly belittling and diminishing circles of banality, Bowie composed and performed what he needed, when he needed. His nonappearance from the unending rundown of “critical occasions” had fuelled merely intrigue. Constant conjecture about what the person was up to, has even driven some to think about whether this is his most noteworthy reinvention ever. This paper seeks to analyze his life and influence in the art industry.

Born as David Robert Jones, Bowie was born on 8th January 1947 at Brixton in the UK. When he reached thirteen, he began his lessons from Ronnie Ross. The early bands he participated in at his young age provided him with the necessary skills and proficiency, which he needed to set his music career rolling. His musical career spanned for a period nearly five decades from the 70s to 2013. During his music career, Bowie underwent various transformations, both in his stage performance, outlooks and dressing, which became instrumental in shaping the nature of other pop artists. To begin with, during the early seventies, the release of “The Man Who Sold the World” marked a new chapter in music history. It is this album that gave birth to glam rock, which had a significant influence on other rock artists who came after him. During this period, Bowie created Ziggy Stardust, a novel and spectacular live performance, which propelled him to stardom. Other than music, Bowie had a slight taste of the film industry. Bowie did a cartoon voice in “SpongeBob SquarePants,” which was released in 1999. Further, he performed as small appearance in “Extras” released in 2005, and Tesla in “The Prestige,” which was released in 2006. These film ventures influenced the development of his musical career.

Bowie had significant influence in the development of the music industry as well as fashion design. His thrilling performances and ideas were inspirational to other musicians within the pop industry. Additionally, moonwalk origins are attributed to Bowie. Although he performed them statically, Michael Jackson perfected them. These early performances of the moonwalk had significant influence over Michael Jackson who heavily relied on the original ideas of Bowie. Also, Bowie had a considerable impact on the punk rock musicians. His musical innovations were incorporated into the genre, which significantly influenced its development. Further, Bowie introduced sophistication in the rock music, which enhanced its beauty and flavor. On the other hand, Bowie had tremendous influence over fashion development during his life. From dressing like “Thin White Duke” to the knitted jumpsuit, Bowie’s dressing ideas were novel and showed remarkable creativity. These designs were later adopted by other people in the fashion industry as well by general society. Due to his creativity and innovativeness, Bowie managed to influence the music and fashion industry in his life.

Bowie’s confession of his sex inclination was an inspiration and motivation for the LGBT community. During the early 70s, Bowie had a sex life, which many people of his time considered slightly obscene. In an interview at 1972, he openly stated that he was gay. This confession concurred with the “Ziggy Stardust” character, which Bowie sought to advance in the society. Later in 1976, he confessed that he was bisexual. Such sexual orientation seemed rather weird in the society during the time. However, Bowie was determined to advocate for his stand in an indirect approach. Through the use of his costumes, he managed to slowly change the perception of the society at that time to gradually appreciate the “gay” community. It is due to these ventures that he is considered an inspiration and motivation for the LGBT community as Bowie sought to rise against the cultural stereotypes regarding sex and sexuality at this time.

In conclusion, the life of David Bowie is an inspiration to both the music community and the fashion industry. Through his creativity, innovativeness, and open-mindedness, Bowie managed to develop and enhance the progression of pop music among other genres of music. Further, he managed to nurture novel fashion ideas, which were popular in the society at this time. It is due to these contributions in the community that Bowie remains an influential figure in visual and performing arts.

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  1. Bennett, Andy. “Wrapped in stardust: glam rock and the rise of David Bowie as pop entrepreneur.”Continuum 31, no. 4 (2017): 574-582.
  2. Bradley, Peri, and James Page. “David Bowie–the trans who fell to earth: cultural regulation, Bowie and gender fluidity.” Continuum 31, no. 4 (2017): 583-595.
  3. Flannery, Denis. “Absence, resistance and visitable pasts: David Bowie, Todd Haynes, Henry James.”Continuum 31, no. 4 (2017): 542-551.
  4. Hawkins, Stan. Queerness in Pop Music: Aesthetics, Gender Norms, and Temporality. New York: Routledge, 2015.
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