The hallmark of rock and roll’s greats often lies in the chameleon like ease with which each persona and musical foray continues to evolve.

David Bowie, as a musician, performer and songwriter, continually reinvented himself and his art. After living each legendary character to the utmost, he deconstructed that which made him singular, then a new element would arise to confound and entice the masses who thought they had just figured out his latest incarnation. Bowie exemplifies the 70’s aesthetic....from his humble folkie beginnings to the glitter and glam of Ziggy Stardust, to the elegance of the Thin White Duke, at each twist and turn of his career, created more than one myth to harken back to his creative visions.

David Robert Jones was born in Brixton on January 8, 1947. At age fifteen, inspired by the jazz of the West End, he picked up the saxophone and called up Ronnie Ross for lessons. Early bands that he played with, the Kon-Rads, the King Bees, the Manish Boys, and the Lower Third provided him with an introduction into the showy world of pop and mod, and by 1966 he was David Bowie, with long hair and aspirations of stardom rustling about his head. Kenneth Pitt signed on as his manager, and his career began with a handful of mostly forgotten singles. It wasn’t until 1969 that the splashdown into the charts would begin, with the legendary “Space Oddity” (which peaked at number 5 in the U.K.). Amidst his musical wanderings in the late 60’s, he experimented with mixed media, mime, Tibetan Buddhism, acting, and love. His first album, originally titled Man of Words, Man of Music, pays homage to all the influences of the London artistic scene, and shows the early songwriting talent that was to yield some of rock and roll’s finest works, even if it would take the rest of the world a few years to catch up with him.

And Bowie continues to break new ground with the Internet-only release of his latest single “Telling Lies.” More than 30 years after his debut, the question of what David Bowie will do next remains one of the most compelling in rock.