--- description: Bowie covers TIME for the second time in the magazine's history title: The Story Behind TIME's New David Bowie Cover image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [behind the cover](/tag/behind-the-cover/) ## behind the cover Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Behind TIME's New David Bowie Cover  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 14, 2016 3:34 PM CUT  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 14, 2016 3:34 PM CUT David Bowie, the iconic musician who died Jan. 10 at age 69, [covers TIME for the second time](http://time.com/4179348/david-bowie-cover-story/ "undefined") in the magazine’s history: he first graced the red border [back in July of 1983](http://time.com/4174857/david-bowie-time-1983-lets-dance/ "undefined") following the success of his album _Let’s Dance_. The photograph was taken in 1989 by Herb Ritts, the late American photographer and music video director. The image is one of a series of photos Ritts shot that [ran in a 1990 issue of _Interview_ magazine,](http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/remembering-david-bowie#slideshow%5F45174.4 "undefined") but the stillness of Bowie’s pose and the dark color scheme set it apart from the other, brighter images of Bowie smiling, jumping and dancing that were published. It’s also not the first time Bowie was photographed in that dazzling striped bodysuit, which Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto created for Bowie’s 1973 tour. Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita, who photographed the musician across decades worth of personas and artistic evolutions, snapped Bowie in the same outfit for a 1973 photo titled _Watch That Man III,_ in which Ziggy Stardust’s fiery orange hair and platform boots are on full display. Of his first meeting with Bowie the year before, [Sukita told TIME last year](http://time.com/4117090/sukita-david-bowie-photos/ "undefined"): --- > “” --- (**Read next:** [_Nile Rodgers: Making_ ](http://time.com/4176373/nile-rodgers-david-bowie-lets-dance/ "undefined")[Let’s Dance](http://time.com/4176373/nile-rodgers-david-bowie-lets-dance/ "undefined")[ _With David Bowie Changed My Life_](http://time.com/4176373/nile-rodgers-david-bowie-lets-dance/ "undefined")) Sukita, who shot Bowie’s 1977 _Heroes_ album cover, says Bowie would call him whenever he came to Japan to take some pictures. “We’ve been exchanging the Eastern and Western cultures all these years, which is how we built our relationship,” he said. “I never thought of David as specifically a friend or subject, he’s always ‘David Bowie.'”  Herb Ritts, 1989—Trunk Archive  Masayoshi Sukita, 1973 — Sukita The David Bowie Archive/ Morrison Hotel Gallery ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4179890/david-bowie-cover/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4179890/david-bowie-cover/"},"headline":"Behind TIME's New David Bowie Cover","datePublished":"2016-01-14T15:34:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:00:35.939Z","description":"Bowie covers TIME for the second time in the magazine's history","url":"https://time.com/4179890/david-bowie-cover/","keywords":["behind the cover","Music","photography","David Bowie topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"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/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/behind-the-cover/","name":"behind the cover"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4179890/david-bowie-cover/","name":"Behind TIME's New David Bowie Cover"}}]}] ```