Friday, January 8: Rock n Roll Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (Jan. 8) to David Bowie. He’s 69. Other rockers celebrating include Doors guitarist Robby Krieger (70) and singer Mike Reno of Loverboy (61).

David Bowie has been a popular figure in rock music for over four decades with an estimated 100 million albums sold worldwide. His first hit was "Space Oddity", which was a top 5 hit in the U.K. in 1969. The classic album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars came in 1972 and introduced the world to Bowie's alter ego Ziggy Stardust. He hit No. 1 in the U.S. 1975 with his first major American crossover hit "Fame" from the album Young Americans. Success would continue throughout the 70's and into the 80's, achieving his most commercial success with the 1983 album Let's Dance. He experimented with different musical styles throughout the 1990's and 2000's, and releases his latest album Blackstar on his birthday today.

Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.