The first major artist to have his entire catalogue converted to CD was David Bowie, whose 15 studio albums were made available by RCA Records in February 1985, along with four Greatest Hits albums.

" In the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29.

David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, on 8 January 1947.

" Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child — and a defiant brawler.

After a series of operations during a four-month hospitalisation, his doctors determined that the damage could not be fully repaired and Bowie was left with faulty depth perception and a permanently dilated pupil.

Dissatisfied with the King Bees and their repertoire of Howlin ' Wolf and Willie Dixon blues numbers, Bowie quit the band less than a month later to join the Manish Boys, another blues outfit, who incorporated folk and soul — " I used to dream of being their Mick Jagger ", Bowie was to recall.

" I Pity the Fool " was no more successful than " Liza Jane ", and Bowie soon moved on again to join the Lower Third, a blues trio strongly influenced by The Who.

Satirising life in a British prison, meanwhile, the Bowie-penned " Over the Wall We Go " became a 1967 single for Oscar ; another Bowie composition, " Silly Boy Blue ", was released by Billy Fury the following year.

Because of his lack of commercial success, Bowie was forced to try to earn a living in different ways.

Bowie's second album, Space Oddity, followed in November ; originally issued in the UK as David Bowie, it caused some confusion with its predecessor of the same name, and the early US release was instead titled Man of Words / Man of Music.

John Cambridge, a drummer Bowie met at the Arts Lab, was joined by Tony Visconti on bass and Mick Ronson on electric guitar.

Their initial studio work was marred by a heated disagreement between Bowie and Cambridge over the latter's drumming style ; matters came to a head when Bowie, enraged, accused, " You're fucking up my album.

To promote it in the United States, Mercury Records financed a coast-to-coast publicity tour in which Bowie, between January and February 1971, was interviewed by radio stations and the media.

The show was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom as he toured the UK over the course of 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.

Earning the distinction of being one of the first white artists to appear on the US variety show Soul Train, Bowie mimed " Fame ", as well as " Golden Years ", his November single, that it was offered to Elvis Presley to perform, but Presley declined it.

The extent to which drug addiction was now affecting Bowie was made public when Russell Harty interviewed the singer for his London Weekend Television talk show in anticipation of the album's supporting tour.

Bowie was asked to relinquish the satellite booking, to allow the Spanish Government to put out a live newsfeed.

[...] Bowie looked completely disconnected and was hardly able to utter a coherent sentence.

Bowie was quoted in Stockholm as saying that " Britain could benefit from a Fascist leader ", and was detained by customs on the Russian / Polish border for possessing Nazi paraphernalia.

Towards the end of the year, Bowie and Angela initiated divorce proceedings, and after months of court battles the marriage was ended in early 1980.

Bowie was elected a commander, with the rank of colonel, of the Texas Rangers later that year.

The men instead elected Bowie, who had a reputation as a fierce fighter, as their commander.

Malcolm McNaughtan Bowie FBA ( 5 May 1943 – 28 January 2007 ) was a British academic, and Master of Christ's College, Cambridge from 2002 to 2006.

Bowie ( left ) on-stage with Sterling Campbell during the Heathen Tour in 2002.

Bowie and Visconti continued their collaboration, producing a new album of completely original songs instead: the result of the sessions was the 2002 album Heathen.

* 2002 – 2006 Malcolm Bowie

Among those who can lay claim to fame, and who have either been born or lived in Beckenham or have had some important contribution to make to the town, there are show business people such as Bob Monkhouse ( 1928 – 2003 ); Julie Andrews ( 1935-); David Bowie ( 1947-), who lived at 42 Southend Road, Beckenham from 1969 – 1973 ; Peter Frampton ( 1950-); Wende Snijders ( 1978-), the Dutch singer ; and the actors Maurice Denham ( 1909 – 2002 ), and Simon Ward ( 1941 – 2012 ).

** Best of Bowie ( 2002 )

* Was released in UK on Queen's Greatest Hits II ( which would later be included in The Platinum Collection ( 2000 and 2002 )) removing the second time David Bowie sings, " This is our last dance.

Garfinkel's closed in 1990, Woodies closed in 1995 and was replaced with a short-lived J. C. Penney store that lasted from 1996 to 2001, and Hecht's closed in 2002 with the opening of the Bowie Town Center located in Bowie.

Becoming a fan of the band after seeing them play at the Glastonbury Festival in 2000, David Bowie personally selected them to play at the 2002 Meltdown festival.

Adelaide Oval has hosted major concerts during its time, with some of the most famous acts including Fleetwood Mac ( 1977 & 2004 ), David Bowie ( 1978 & 1983 ), KISS ( 1980 ), Madonna & Paul McCartney ( 1993 ), Michael Jackson ( 1996 ), Billy Joel & Elton John ( 1998 ), P! nk ( 2002 ), Pearl Jam ( 2009 ), AC / DC and Wolfmother ( 2010 ) and Foo Fighters ( 2011 ).

2002: David Bowie, Travis, Rammstein, No Doubt, Morten Abel, Belle & Sebastian, Turbonegro, Kent, … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Kaizers Orchestra, Muse, White Stripes

Tours include Moby's 2002 Area2 ( Busta Rhymes, David Bowie, Blue Man Group ), the Salem " Stir the Senses " tour ( with Kaos ; other 2003 " Stir the Senses " tours featured The Roots, Outkast ), and the PlayStation 2 ( with Bad Boy Bill ).

* Heathen-David Bowie ( 2002 )

John Bowie died in 2002, but the group continued to work under the leadership of Johnnie Mason.

The 2002 Area2 acts included Moby and David Bowie in alternating headlining slots: as well as Ash, Blue Man Group, and Busta Rhymes.

** Best of Bowie ( 2002 )

This alternate version was not popularly available until the DVD release of Best of Bowie in 2002.

He appeared in the critically acclaimed 2002 film City of God as Mané Galinha, directed by filmmaker Fernando Meirelles, and then played Pelé dos Santos in Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, for which he provided much of the soundtrack in the form of Portuguese language cover versions of David Bowie classics.

** Best of Bowie ( 2002 )

The Joint is a rock club which has featured performances by The Rolling Stones, Guns N Roses, The Stone Roses, The Black Crowes, David Bowie, Coldplay, Oasis, Spacehog, Alicia Keys, Nine Inch Nails, and The Killers. The " Joint " was expected to host The Who on their first leg of their US of tour of 2002.

In early 2002, Hecht's closed its doors after opening a new store at Bowie Town Center in nearby Bowie, Maryland.