David Bowie was a legendary artist in many ways. With his music, his many personas and his acting career, Bowie was unlike any other musician. Here are 7 facts about David Bowie you might not have known about.

David Bowie (1947 – 2016) performs on stage on his Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane tour in London, 1973. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)

 

1) He turned down a Knighthood from the queen.

Queen Elizabeth II reviews the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery during their 70th anniversary parade (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

 

2) Bowie didn’t have different coloured eyes. Both eyes were blue, but his left eye had a permanently dilated pupil.

 

3) He was painfully shy in the beginning. He created personas like Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, and so on as a way to help himself perform on stage, saying: “I didn’t really have the nerve to sing my songs onstage, so I decided to do them in disguise.”

LOS ANGELES – 1973: Musician David Bowie performs onstage during his “Ziggy Stardust” era in 1973 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

 

4) Bowie also turned down a role as the villain in the James Bond movie A View To A Kill.

 

 

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Jareth, the main antagonist of Jim Henson’s 1986 fantasy film, Labyrinth, stands proudly among the other characters associated with David Bowie, such as Ziggy Stardust, Halloween Jack and The Thin White Duke. Fans of a certain vintage may very well protest at the inclusion of the Goblin King in that list, but Labyrinth was the entry point for a whole army of new Bowie fans, following three years on from the swelling of the ranks by the Let’s Dance album and attendant Serious Moonlight World Tour of 1983. The promotional images here are of David Bowie as Jareth along with Jennifer Connelly as Sarah. Sarah’s younger brother, Toby, is nowhere to be seen among these pictures as evil Jareth stole away with him while Sarah was distracted. Social Services have been informed. #RandomBowie #BowieLabyrinth

A post shared by David Bowie (@davidbowie) on

 

5) To avoid confusion with Davy Jones from The Monkees, David Jones became David Bowie in 1966. He chose Bowie because of the bowie knife, coupled with his own philosophy of, “…cutting through to the truth.”

 

American pop group The Monkees juggle in a ball pit at Great Adventure Amusement Park during a break on their reuion concert tour, New Jersey, July 1986. Pictured are, from left, Peter Tork, Davy Jones (1945 – 2012), and Micky Dolenz. (Photo by Susan Aimee Weinik/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)

 

6) He had to have emergency heart surgery in 2004 because of a blocked artery. 

UNITED STATES – MARCH 07: NASHVILLE Photo of David BOWIE, David Bowie performing on stage (Photo by Beth Gwinn/Redferns)

 

7) Bowie was featured on Bing Crosby‘s television special, Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas in 1977. The pair were supposed to sing together the Christmas classic “The Little Drummer Boy,” but because Bowie hated the song, lyrics for the song “Peace on Earth” were written.

 

Tune in to the Sunday Night Vinyl Series at 8PM with Howard Mandshein for more interesting tidbits about your favourite artists.