16 Sep AMI’s New Giveaway Looks Back on the Life and Career of “Starman” David Bowie
-Prize is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Moonage Daydream on Blu-ray and accompanying 2 CD album, and Creem magazine: The Special David Bowie Edition.
This new contest from AMI extols the contributions of musician, actor, and visual artist, David Bowie. One lucky winner will get The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust—including picture disc and half-speed master vinyl, Moonage Daydream—a cinematic odyssey exploring Bowie’s creative and musical journey, on Blu-ray and accompanying dual-CD album, and a special David Bowie issue of Creem magazine. The contest is open September 16, 2022 through September 28, 2022. Eligible fans can enter using the AMI Music app available on iOS and Android, or on any participating AMI Jukebox.
Born David Robert Jones in 1947, in London, to Irish immigrant parents, Bowie was an artist and performer from a very young age. In school he was a member of the chorus and was known to be above average at both playing the recorder and interpreting music through dance. When his father brought home a stack of American 45s from artists like The Platters, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley (with whom Bowie shared a birthday), he became further inspired to create his own sounds. He began composing music on the piano and added an unusual flair with less common instruments like the ukulele and the tea-chest bass. He started his first band at the age of fifteen, began playing gigs and getting the attention of promoters. By the mid-sixties, to set aside any confusion with fellow British singer Davy Jones of The Monkees, he adopted his stage name David Bowie. Throughout the years, Bowie adopted many musical personas including Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, and The Blind Prophet. His character was ever-changing and always evolving.
As a musician, Bowie saw a lot of success including six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Ivor Novello Special Award for Originality for his 1969 song “Space Oddity,” placement on the BBC’s “100 Greatest Britons” list as well as Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2000 he declined the royal honor of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and subsequently turned down a knighthood. Some of his more unique tributes include having a spider named for him (Heteropoda davidbowie), as well as a constellation and a meteor (342843 Davidbowie).
In addition to music, Bowie also constructed a meaningful career as an actor. He starred in over 30 films, theatrical productions, and TV shows, most notably as alien Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man which ran on Broadway from 1980-1981, as Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and perhaps his most memorable and beloved role: as Jareth, the Goblin King in Jim Henson’s 1986 dark fantasy, Labyrinth.
On January 10, 2016—two days after his 69th birthday and the day of his Blackstar album release, David Bowie passed away from liver cancer, a condition he had never made public. As the world grieved, many artists honored him by recounting the influence he had on their own careers. “I did appreciate how profound and wise David’s philosophies were and how much his philosophies on life and living would impact me as both a filmmaker and a husband and father and man,” said Brett Morgen, the creator of the documentary Moonage Daydream. “I’ve not encountered a doctrine or philosophy that is as appealing to me as Bowie’s– it’s a guide for better living. He’s telling us how to do it. He’s no longer here but he provided the roadmap for how we can get through this time… Thank God we walked on earth at the same time as this man.”
AMI offers this giveaway to fans of musical icon, David Bowie. For a limited time, AMI jukeboxes will also be featuring a playlist that highlights some of the biggest hits of his career. All are encouraged to check out the playlist and enter the contest using the AMI Music app or by visiting a nearby AMI jukebox venue.