5 Things You Probably Didn't Know about David Bowie

David Bowie, the iconic entertainer who spent 50 years redefining himself and pop music, died Sunday of cancer.

See: David Bowie, Musical Icon Who Influenced A Generation, Dies of Cancer

Here are five things you probably didn’t know about him:

1. For nearly two years, Bowie hid his battle with cancer from the world, living just long enough to release his final album, which came out two days before his death Sunday. The album “Blackstar” confounded critics for its turn toward the Gothic. Replete with imagery of death and dread, it prompted many writers to speculate the album was a commentary on the state of the world and the ongoing genocide being inflicted by ISIS. News of his death recast the album in hauntingly personal terms: the final poetry of an artist acutely aware that death was coming for him.
2. Bowie was famed for his alter ego glam rock icon Ziggy Stardust, but David Bowie was also an alter ego, one of many. Before settling on the name Bowie in 1965, he went briefly by ”Tom Jones.” According to the website Bowiewonderworld.com, he settled on ‘Bowie’ because it “was the ultimate American knife. It is the medium for a conglomerate of statements and illusions.” Bowie was born David Robert Jones.
3. Bowie is famous for his two different colored eyes, but they are actually the same color. One pupil is larger than the other, giving the appearance of two different colors. It’s a condition called anisocoria, which he got at 15 when a friend punched him in the eye during a fight over a girl. According to the Independent, pal and future bandmate George Underwood clocked Bowie, scratching the pupil with his nail. Despite having to undergo a series of surgeries, Bowie was a good sport, thanking his friend for giving him “a kind of mystique,” reported the Independent.
4. Bowie was married twice and had two children. His second marriage proved to be the entertainment industry’s rare long-lived love. in 1992, he married Somalian-born Iman Mohamed Abul Majid.
5. Born in London, Bowie maintained residences all over the world, including Beverly Hills and New York. During the heart of his 70s glam rock era, he stayed close to the Sunset strip, living in Hollywood, Los Feliz and Bel Air.

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