[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E67]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN TRIBUTE TO DAVID BOWIE, LEGENDARY PERFORMING AND RECORDING ARTIST 
          WHO NEVER LACKED THE COURAGE OR CONFIDENCE TO CHANGE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 28, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, it is with a deep sadness and a heavy 
heart that I rise today to pay tribute to David Bowie, a true 
trailblazer of the music and film industry.
  David Bowie died on January 10, 2016 in New York City, from cancer; 
he was only 69 years old.
  David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, South London, 
England, on January 8, 1947.
  David showed a strong interest in music from an early age and began 
playing the saxophone at the age of 13.
  After graduating from Bromley Technical High School at the age of 16, 
David started working as a commercial artist.
  David Bowie was also a stand-in with a number of bands and the leader 
of his own group, Davy Jones and the Lower Third.
  David Bowie changed his last name to Bowie to avoid confusion with 
Davy Jones of The Monkees, a name which was inspired by the knife 
developed by Jim Bowie, the 19th century American frontiersman.
  The first solo album David Bowie recorded was unsuccessful and soon 
thereafter he decided to take a hiatus from the music world.
  But by early 1969, David Bowie had returned full time to the music 
industry, releasing the hit single ``Space Oddity.''
  The song resonated with the public, sparked in large part by the 
BBC's use of the single during its coverage of the Apollo 11 moon 
landing.
  His next work, 1971's Hunky Dory, featured two blockbuster hits: the 
title track that was a tribute to Andy Warhol, the Velvet Underground 
and Bob Dylan; and ``Changes,'' which came to embody Bowie himself.
  As David Bowie's celebrity profile increased, so did his desire to 
keep fans and critics guessing, first by claiming he was gay, and then 
introducing Ziggy Stardust, Bowie's imagining of a doomed rock star.
  His 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders 
from Mars, made him a bona fide superstar.
  By the mid-1970s David Bowie had continued his chameleon style by 
jettisoning the outrageous costumes and garish sets.
  Then in two short years released the albums David Live in 1974 and 
Young Americans in 1975.
  In 1980 David Bowie, while living in New York, released Scary 
Monsters, a much-lauded album that featured the single ``Ashes to 
Ashes,'' an updated version of his earlier ``Space Oddity.''
  David Bowie's creative interests were not limited to music.
  In 1980, David Bowie performed on Broadway in The Elephant Man and 
his passion for film helped land him the title role in The Man Who Fell 
to Earth in 1976 and a starring role in the film Labyrinth in 1986.
  Over the next decade, David Bowie bounced back and forth between 
acting and music.
  The most popular of David Bowie creations of late has been Bowie 
Bonds, financial securities the artist himself backed with royalties 
from his pre-1990 work.
  David Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, 
and was a 2006 recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
  He kept a low profile for several years until the release of his 2013 
album, The Next Day, which skyrocketed to #2 on the Billboard charts.
  He released Blackstar, his final album, on his 69th birthday, January 
8, 2016.
  New York Times critic Jon Pareles noted that it was a ``strange, 
daring and ultimately rewarding'' work ``with a mood darkened by bitter 
awareness of mortality.''
  The world would soon learn that the album had been produced under 
truly difficult circumstances when the music icon died on January 10, 
2016, in New York City, two days after its release.
  Mr. Speaker, David Bowie famously said of himself, ``I'm not a 
prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a 
superman. I'm living on.''
  Yes, David Bowie truly possessed the ability of an artistic 
superhuman and will live on in the hearts of his dedicated fans, 
admirers, and the present and future artists he has inspired around the 
world.
  I ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of David 
Bowie, the Man Who Fell to Earth and gave the world Ziggy Stardust and 
who never lacked the courage or confidence to change.

                          ____________________