--- title: David Bowie's Early Photos: Starman Becoming a Star description: The legendary musician's career as David Bowie spanned almost exactly 50 years to the day canonical: https://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-11T14:24:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:33.312Z article:section: History og:title: A Star Before Starman: See Early Photos of David Bowie og:description: The legendary musician's career as David Bowie spanned almost exactly 50 years to the day og:url: https://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25988bc86ec7e49d/6988783c428a9e2862cd0db0/160108-david-bowie-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: David Bowie circa 1965 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Star Before Starman: See Early Photos of David Bowie twitter:description: The legendary musician's career as David Bowie spanned almost exactly 50 years to the day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25988bc86ec7e49d/6988783c428a9e2862cd0db0/160108-david-bowie-02.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Star Before Starman: Early Photos of David Bowie by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jan 11, 2016 2:24 PM UTC  David Bowie circa 1965, playing Framus 12 string acoustic guitar. David Bowie circa 1965, playing Framus 12 string acoustic guitar.CA/Redferns—Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jan 11, 2016 2:24 PM UTC The [death on Sunday](http://time.com/4174815/david-bowie-death-cancer) of rock musician David Bowie at age 69 put an end to a prolific career that spanned almost exactly 50 years to the day. Though he had been performing under his given name, David Jones, for years before then, it was on Jan. 14, 1966—a half-century ago on Thursday—that “I Can’t Help Thinking About Me”/”And I Say to Myself” was released as a single from the newly named David Bowie. Though the name stuck, the rest of his persona continued to evolve. The mid-1960s Bowie fit right in with the London mod crowd. But, as these pre-_Ziggy Stardust_ photos show, over the next few years his look got less mod and more glam. By 1972, when _Ziggy Stardust_ was released, Bowie had found his niche. As TIME noted in a story about rock music moving into what the magazine called a rococo period, the then-25-year-old Bowie began his first-ever U.S. tour with a “surprise sellout” in Ohio and followed it up with a smashing success at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. And, though glam rock was officially a trend, Bowie was no longer a follower but a trend-setter: --- > “” --- The _Ziggy Stardust_ story ends with the death of its protagonist, and Bowie himself said at the time that, “”I know that one day a big artist is going to get killed on stage, and I keep thinking that it’s bound to be me.” Though that prediction proved incorrect, he did continue to make music until the very end: his last album, _Blackstar,_ was released just days ago. **_Read the full story from 1972, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Vaudeville Rock](http://time.com/vault/issue/1972-10-30/page/83/)  David Bowie playing mandolin with a model. Photo taken on Kingly Street, off Carnaby Street in the summer of 1963, UK. Fiona Adams/Redferns—Getty Images  David Bowie circa 1965, playing Framus 12 string acoustic guitar. CA/Redferns—Getty Images  David Bowie poses for a portrait session circa 1965 - 1966 in London, England. Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images  David Bowie plays an acoustic Espana 12-string guitar to promote the release of his album "Space Oddity" in November 1969 in London, England. Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images  A pre-glam David Bowie jams at a party thrown by publicist and future nightclub impresario and DJ Rodney Bingenheimer at lawyer Paul Figen's house in January 1971, in Los Angeles. Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives—Getty Images  David Bowie with wife Angie and three week old son Zowie. He is modelling an Oxford Bags dress, Turkish cotton shirt and a felt hat. June 29, 1971. Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix—Corbis David Bowie's Early Photos: Starman Becoming a Star ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/"},"headline":"A Star Before Starman: Early Photos of David Bowie","datePublished":"2016-01-11T14:24:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:33.312Z","description":"The legendary musician's career as David Bowie spanned almost exactly 50 years to the day","url":"https://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/","keywords":["Music","photography","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25988bc86ec7e49d/6988783c428a9e2862cd0db0/160108-david-bowie-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Liz Ronk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25988bc86ec7e49d/6988783c428a9e2862cd0db0/160108-david-bowie-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"David Bowie circa 1965","caption":"David Bowie circa 1965","creditText":"CA/Redferns—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4172696/david-bowie-1966-photos/","name":"A Star Before Starman: Early Photos of David Bowie"}}]}] ```