NEWS LESSONS / David Bowie obituary / Elementary
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David Bowie obituary
Level 1
l
Elementary
Key words
2
Quick quiz
1
Do the quiz. Then, scan the article to check your answers.
1. David Bowie was ...
a. … a British singer, songwriter and actor.
b. … a British painter and actor.
c. … an American musician and artist.
2. What do these people have in common?
• Ziggy Stardust
• the Thin White Duke
3. Match the David Bowie albums with the year they
were released.
1967
Black Tie White Noise
1975
Blackstar
1980
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
1993
David Bowie
2016
Young Americans
Match the key words with the definitions below. Then, find them in the article to read them in context. The
paragraph numbers will help you.
1. worrying or upsetting _________________________ (para 1)
2. someone who is the first to do something or to discover something _________________________ (para 2)
3. one of the first people to do something important that is later continued and developed by other people
_________________________ (para 2)
4. start to do something alone and not with others _________________________ (para 3)
5. when a musical record is made available for people to buy _________________________ (para 4)
6. the natural ability to do things well _________________________ (para 5)
7. a musical record with only one song on each side _________________________ (para 7)
8. the time when something is most successful or popular _________________________ (para 13)
9. in a way that is connected with making money _________________________ (para 13)
10. the activity of trying to persuade people or organizations to give money for something, especially a charity
_________________________ (para 14)
11. something you do to show respect for someone _________________________ (para 15)
12. a list showing the music that people have bought the most copies of _________________________ (para 16)
13. organized in order to make money for people or a charity _________________________ (para 17)
14. a prize or other reward that is given to someone who has done something special
_________________________ (para 19)
disturbing
go solo
pioneer
released
single
talents
trailblazer
award
benefit
chart
commercially
fundraising
heyday
tribute
NEWS LESSONS / David Bowie obituary / Elementary
•PHOT
OCOPIABLE
•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
David Bowie obituary
Level 1
l
Elementary
David Bowie obituary
Adam Sweeting
11 January, 2016
1 Until the end, David Bowie, who has died of
cancer, still surprised us. His latest album,
Blackstar, appeared on his 69th birthday on 8
January 2016. It showed that he hadn’t stopped
making challenging, disturbing music.
2 Throughout the 1970s, Bowie was a trailblazer
of musical trends and pop fashion. He became
a singer-songwriter, a pioneer of glam-rock, then
became involved in “plastic soul”. He then moved
to Berlin to create innovative electronic music.
3 Bowie was born David Robert Jones in south
London. At 15, David formed his first band, the
Kon-rads, but it was soon clear that David should
go solo. David took the name Bowie so people
wouldn’t confuse him with Davy Jones of
the Monkees.
4 Bowie’s first album, released in June 1967, was
titled simply David Bowie. In July 1969, Bowie
released Space Oddity, the song that would give
him his first big success. Timed to coincide with the
Apollo 11 moon landing, it was a top five UK hit.
5 The Man Who Sold the World was released in the
US in late 1970 and in the UK the following year.
With its daring songwriting and hard-rock sound,
it was the first album to really show his talents.
6 He followed it with 1972’s Hunky Dory, a mix of
wordy, elaborate songwriting. It was an excellent
collection that was not a great success. But
that all changed with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy
Stardust and the Spiders from Mars later
that year.
7 This time, Bowie appeared as Ziggy Stardust, a
science-fiction character – an intergalactic
glam-rock star visiting planet Earth. The hit
single Starman brought instant success for
the album.
8 Everything Bowie touched turned to gold. He had
his first UK number 1 album with Aladdin Sane
(1973), which included the hit singles The Jean
Genie and Drive-in Saturday.
9 His interest in funk and soul music could be
heard on the album Young Americans (1975),
which included the single Fame (with John
Lennon as a guest singer).
10 With the album Station to Station (1976), Bowie
turned himself into a new character, the Thin
White Duke.
11 Bowie and his wife divorced in 1980. This was
a year of more creative success, with a good
album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps),
and its hit single, Ashes to Ashes. After this, he
played the title role in The Elephant Man on the
Broadway stage.
12 He achieved a number 1 single with his 1981
partnership with Queen, Under Pressure. 1983
was the year in which he put his energy into the
album Let’s Dance and his concerts. Let’s Dance
turned Bowie into a global rock star –
the album and its singles Let’s Dance, China
Girl and Modern Love all became huge
international hits.
13 The early 80s was the heyday of MTV. Bowie’s
talent for making eye-catching videos increased
his popularity and the six-month Serious
Moonlight tour attracted lots of people. It was to
be the most commercially successful period of
his career.
14 At the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley
Stadium, Bowie was one of the best performers.
Also, that year, he worked with Mick Jagger to
record the fundraising single Dancing in the
Street, which quickly went to number 1.
15 A few days after he performed at the Freddie
Mercury tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in
April 1992, Bowie married the Somalian model
Iman and bought a home in New York.
16 For the album Black Tie White Noise (1993), he
included elements of soul and hip hop. It went to
the top of the UK album chart and gave him a top
10 single, Jump They Say.
17 Bowie performed at the Concert for New York
City in October 2001, where he joined Paul
McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, the Who and
Elton John in a benefit show six weeks after the
9/11 attacks.
18 During his Reality tour in 2004, Bowie had chest
pains while he was performing in Germany and
needed emergency surgery in Hamburg.
19 He saw the medical emergency as a warning and
started to slow down. In February 2006, he was
given a Grammy lifetime achievement award. He
was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1996.
20 The Next Day (2013) was his first album of new
songs in ten years. It included the single Where
Are We Now? The album went to the top of the
charts in Britain and around the world. In 2014,
Bowie was given the Brit Award for Best British
NEWS LESSONS / David Bowie obituary / Elementary
•PHOT
OCOPIABLE
•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
David Bowie obituary
Level 1
l
Elementary
Summary
4
Biographical information
3
Answer the questions about David Bowie’s life with information from the article.
1. Where was David Bowie born and in what year?
2. What was Bowie’s birth name?
3. Why did he change his name?
4. What was the name of his first band?
5. What style of music is he most connected with?
6. How many children did he have?
Male – he was the oldest person to get
the award.
21 He leaves behind his wife, Iman, their daughter,
Alexandria, his stepdaughter, Zulekha, and his
son, Duncan, from his first marriage.
22 • David Bowie (David Robert Jones), singer,
songwriter and actor, born 8 January, 1947; died
10 January, 2016
© Guardian News and Media 2016
First published in The Guardian, 11/01/16
Use some of the key words from task 2 to complete the summary of the article.
David Bowie’s last album, Blackstar, was _______________________(1) just three days before he died. It showed
that he could still surprise us and make challenging, _______________________(2) music.
Bowie had many musical and artistic _______________________(3). During his career, Bowie was a
_______________________(4) of musical trends and pop fashion, and a _______________________(5) of
glam-rock.
His most _______________________(6) successful period was in the early 1980s. He had a number 1 hit
_______________________ (7) with Queen, another _______________________ (8) hit single with Mick Jagger,
released two popular albums and went on tour. This was also the _______________________ (9) of MTV, which
showed Bowie’s eye-catching music videos.
Soon after, he performed at a _______________________ (10) concert for Freddie Mercury and he married
Iman, a model from Somalia. They bought a home together in New York. In New York, he performed at the
_______________________ (11) show for the victims of the 9/11 attack.
In 2006, Bowie received a Grammy lifetime achievement _______________________ (12) and, in 2011, he was
given the Brit Award for Best British Male. He was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
NEWS LESSONS / David Bowie obituary / Elementary
•PHOT
OCOPIABLE
•
CAN BE DOWNLOADED
FROM WEBSITE
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
David Bowie obituary
Level 1
l
Elementary
KEY
1 Quick quiz
1. a
2. They are characters created by David Bowie.
3. David Bowie (1967)
Young Americans (1975)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)
Black Tie White Noise (1993)
Blackstar (2016)
2 Key words
1. disturbing
2. trailblazer
3. pioneer
4. go solo
5. released
6. talents
7. single
8. heyday
9. commercially
10. fundraising
11. tribute
12. chart
13. benefit
14. award
3 Biographical information
1. in South London; in 1947
2. David Robert Jones
3. so people wouldn’t confuse him with Davy Jones of
the pop group the Monkees
4. the Kon-rads
5. glam-rock
6. two of his own, Duncan and Alexandria, and a
step-daughter, Zulekha
4 Summary
1. released
2. disturbing
3. talents
4. trailblazer
5. pioneer
6. commercially
7. single
8. fundraising
9. heyday
10. tribute
11. benefit
12. award
5 Word fields
Bowie’s songwriting: challenging, disturbing,
innovative, daring, wordy, elaborate
Bowie’s music styles: glam-rock, plastic soul,
electronic, hard rock, funk, soul,
hip hop
