1947 David Robert Jones, son of Margaret Mary “Peggy” Jones (née Burns) and Haywood Stenton “John” Jones, is born on January 8 in Brixton, London.
1953 The Jones family moves to the London suburb of Bromley.
1961 Given a white, injection-molded acrylic Grafton saxophone with gold keys by his father for Christmas.
1962 George Underwood punches him in the eye on February 12.
Sees Little Richard perform at the Woolwich Granada on October 13.
First public performance, playing the saxophone for the Kon-Rads at the Bromley Tech PTS fete on June 16.
1964 Releases his first single, “Liza Jane,” credited to Davie Jones with the King Bees, on June 5.
Appears properly on television for the first time (he appeared in the audience on Juke Box Jury on June 6), on the BBC’s Tonight program, representing the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men on November 12.
1965 Officially changes his name to David Bowie (principally to avoid any confusion with emerging star Davy Jones) on September 16.
1967 David Bowie, his first album, is released on June 1.
1969 “Space Oddity,” which would become his first hit single, is released on July 11.
David’s father passes away on August 5.
David Bowie, his second album (later rereleased as Space Oddity), is released on November 14.
1970 Marries Angela “Angie” Barnett at Bromley Register Office on March 19.
1971 The Man Who Sold the World is released on April 10.
His son, Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones, is born on May 30.
Hunky Dory is released on November 17.
1972 First concert on the Ziggy Stardust tour at the Borough Assembly Hall in Aylesbury on January 29.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is released on June 16.
Appears on Top of the Pops performing “Starman,” a performance seen by approximately a quarter of the UK population, on July 6.
1973 Aladdin Sane is released on April 13.
Pin Ups is released on October 19.
1974 Diamond Dogs is released on May 24.
1975 Young Americans is released on March 7.
1976 Station to Station is released on January 23.
The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg, is released on March 18.
1977 Low is released on January 14.
“Heroes” is released on October 14.
1978 Just a Gigolo is released on November 16.
1979 Lodger is released on May 18.
1980 Divorces Angie Bowie in Switzerland on February 8.
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) is released on September 12.
1983 Let’s Dance is released on April 14.
The Hunger is released on April 29.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is released on August 25.
1984 Tonight is released on September 1.
1985 His schizophrenic half-brother, Terence “Terry” Guy Adair Burns (Rosenberg), commits suicide at Coulsdon South train station on January 16.
Performs at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in front of 1.9 billion people via satellite on July 13.
1986 Absolute Beginners is released on April 4.
Labyrinth is released on June 27.
1987 Never Let Me Down is released on April 27.
1988 The Last Temptation of Christ is released on August 12.
1989 Tin Machine is released on May 23.
1991 Tin Machine II is released on September 2.
1992 Marries Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid in Lausanne on April 24.
1993 Black Tie White Noise is released on April 5.
The Buddha of Suburbia is released on November 8.
1995 Outside is released on September 26.
1997 Earthling is released on February 3.
Bowie Bonds announced on February 4.
1998 BowieNet launched on September 1.
1999 Hours is released on September 21.
2000 His daughter, Alexandria “Lexi” Zahra Jones, is born on August 15.
2001 His mother passes away on April 2.
2002 Heathen is released on June 11.
2003 Reality is released on September 16.
2004 Suffers the first of several heart attacks onstage at the Hurricane festival in Scheessel, Germany, on June 25.
2006 The Prestige is released on October 20.
Final public performance at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom (playing “Wild Is the Wind,” “Fantastic Voyage,” and “Changes”) on November 9.
2013 The Next Day is released on March 8.
David Bowie Is…opens at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London on March 23.
2014 Makes final trip to the UK with his wife and daughter, visiting Brixton to see the home in Stansfield Road where he was born; Plaistow Grove in Bromley, where his family moved when he was six; and Foxgrove Road, in Beckenham, where he lived in 1969.
2016 Blackstar is released on January 8.
David dies in his apartment in Manhattan on January 10. He is cremated in New Jersey two days later.