Name at birth: David Robert Jones

David Bowie's first big hit was 1969's "Space Oddity." In 1972 he recorded The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, which featured the hit songs "Suffragette City" and "Starman." Bowie promoted the album with an elaborate stage act and became a leader of glam-rock in the mid-1970s. Known for frequent style changes in music and fashion, Bowie has also had hit records in collaboration with other stars, including Lou Reed, John Lennon, Iggy Pop and Brian Eno. He has also acted in films, notably in The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976), The Hunger (1983, with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon) and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983). In 1992 he married fashion model Iman.

In the 2006 movie The Prestige (starring Christian Bale) Bowie portrays inventor Nikola Tesla.