David Bowie is a rock icon that spawned millions of fans over the course of his career. Behind the success of Space Oddity, David Bowie became an international star.
This song was the race pistol that started the race to stardom. He has been in hit movies, he’s made guest star appearances in TV shows and he’s obviously made many hit albums. All this being said, is anyone surprised that the David Bowie tattoo is a popular choice for fans? David Bowie has many recognizable hits including The Man Who Sold the World, Changes, Life on Mars?, Starman and Moonage Daydream to name a few.
The fandom behind David Bowie is one of the strongest ever and there aren’t many people that have ever existed who have had a bigger following. David Bowie is an icon and he changed the landscape of music forever.
In this post, we will talk more about who David Bowie was and what he did. We’ll also talk about some of the more well-known David Bowie Tattoos and what they mean to the person with it. By the end of this post, we hope you have a better understanding of who David Bowie was and why so many people get tattoos to honor him. If you weren’t sure about getting your own David Bowie tattoo before, we hope you are ready to take the leap after you read this.
About David Bowie
David Bowie was a rock and roll frontman from England. He was well known for his transformations into other rock characters, namely, Ziggy Stardust. In 1996, Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
David Bowie was born on January 8, 1947 in South London’s Brixton neighborhood. The song that set it all off for Bowie was the 1969 Space Oddity. David Bowie’s stardom really took off with the hit album Ziggy Stardust. Bowie became almost a sci-fi character during this time. His first American number 1 single didn’t come until he co-wrote “Fame” with John Lennon and Carlos Alomar in 1975. Bowie was also a well-known actor and was featured in films like The Man Who Fell to Earth in 1976 and Labyrinth in 1986.
David Bowie was largely influenced by his brother Terry who introduced him to rock music at a young age. Bowie played the saxophone at 13 which was the start of his musical journey. Sadly, Bowie’s brother Terry ended up committing suicide in 1985 which led to the song “Jump They Say”.
Bowie was involved in many bands in the years going forward. They had some singles but never anything that was going to make him the star he ended up becoming. By 1969, Bowie was back into music full-time after a break. He released the single “Space Oddity” which set everything in motion. The song was a major hit and probably got some more traction after the BBC used the song in their coverage of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.
From there, Bowie released 26 more studio albums, 51 compilation albums, 10 live albums, 128 singles, 8 EPs and 4 soundtracks.
David Bowie was an interesting man which led to so much interest in not only his music, but him as a person and character. This is why the David Bowie tattoo is so popular.
David Bowie Tattoo Meaning
The David Bowie tattoo has meaning but that is going to be up to the person that has the tattoo. David Bowie was an icon and many people probably had their first makeout session during a Bowie song or they went to a David Bowie concert. There are a lot of reasons why someone might get a David Bowie tattoo and the tattoo will generally have deep meaning to the person with the tattoo.
David Bowie Tattoo Variations
Being that David Bowie was involved in so many different aspects of show business, there are many ways to get a David Bowie tattoo. Below are some of the more popular examples we have seen over the years.
David Bowie Portrait
One can’t show their fandom in a much more obvious way than getting the David Bowie portrait tattoo. Having the man’s face immortalized on your skin is something only a die-hard fan would do. Whether it’s realism or traditional, the David Bowie portrait tattoo is a spectacle and a really cool tattoo if you want to get a tattoo to represent your favorite singer.
David Bowie Lightning Bolt Tattoo
The lightning bolt on David Bowies face on the album cover of Aladdin Sane is probably one of the most memorable images of Bowie in his career. The David Bowie lightning bolt is easily one of the most popular ways to commemorate David Bowie and we lots of fans doing so. We have seen the face of David Bowie tattooed with the lightning bolt and we have also seen the simple lighting bolt tattoo. Either one is capturing a moment in time that will now be remembered forever.
David Bowie Blackstar Tattoo
Blackstar was the last studio album that David Bowie would release. He did so in January 2016. This image of the Blackstar album cover is an important tattoo because two days after the album’s release, David Bowie died of liver cancer. Many people get the Blackstar image tattooed on their bodies as a way to memorialize David Bowie.
David Bowie Owl Tattoo
The David Bowie Owl tattoo is an image from The Labyrinth. In this movie, David Bowie could turn back and forth from a human to an owl. This movie is a cult classic and the David Bowie owl tattoo is a creative way to show your love for Bowie, the movie and tattoos all at the same time.
There are thousands of ways to get a tattoo that would represent David Bowie. Like Bowie, most of his fans are creative people as well and so we are sure that if they don’t like the examples above, they will be able to come up with their own unique David Bowie tattoo.
If you need help finding someone that can make your vision come to life, just ask us for a recommendation and we would be happy to help.