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David Bowie obituary

Level 1

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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

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David Bowie obituary

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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

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David Bowie obituary

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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

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David Bowie obituary

Level 1

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Elementary

a. Complete the word wheels with words from the article that the author used to describe Bowie’s

songwriting and his styles of music.

b. Use some of the words to talk about other musicians.

Word fields

5

Words describing

Bowie’s

songwriting

Bowie’s music

styles

daring

hard rock

hip hop

innovative

plastic soul

challenging

soul

elaborate

electronic

disturbing

funk

glam-rock

wordy

Webquest

7

See photos of some the David Bowie’s key looks (including Ziggy Stardust) here:

www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2016/jan/11/david-bowie-key-looks-pictures

See pictures from his life and career here:

www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2016/jan/11/david-bowies-life-and-career-in-pictures

Discussion

6

We all know that music is strongly connected with memories.
• Do you connect any of Bowie’s music with particular memories or periods of your life?
• What music do you connect with your childhood and youth?

NEWS LESSONS / David Bowie obituary / Elementary

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OCOPIABLE

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CAN BE DOWNLOADED

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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