David Bowie comes down to earth - as he becomes a pensioner

By Britta Guerke Jan 4, 2012, 2:06 GMT

London - It's been nearly a decade since his last album - and probably the best part of three decades since he had a major hit - but his legions of fans may still be shocked to learn that the original 'Space Oddity', David Bowie, turns 65 on Sunday.

That landmark qualifies the rock god for a free bus pass in his native Britain - something the Manhattan-dwelling millionaire musician probably doesn't need.

Although interviews were rare, even during his heyday, it is clear that Bowie has no intention of taking to the stage or the recording studio as an ageing rock star, preferring to put his musical efforts on the backburner.

'At some point you reach a time in life where you realize that there are perhaps three or four things that are important,' he said in an interview with a German newspaper shortly after his second wife, Somali model Iman, gave birth to a baby girl in 2002.

'The older you get, the fewer the questions that bother you. Unfortunately those are the questions to which there are no answers, and death is one of them.'

His last album, Reality, released in 2003, marked a shift from its predecessor Heathen, released the previous year. 'By contrast, Reality was really almost cheerful. Heathen was restful, but the atmosphere was a bit disturbed, a bit uncomfortable,' he told the interviewer.

Bowie described Reality as more grounded, reflecting the negative, while also compensating for the depressing words through optimistic tunes.

Uncomfortable, disturbed, strange, but also completely absorbing is the way many people see most of Bowie's work. In the 1970s his androgynous appearance, constantly changing musical style, and different personas were a sensation.

He appeared able to predict musical trends, or simply did his own thing - and was immediately copied.

The character Major Tom and the Space Oddity album made him world famous in 1969. That was followed by pop albums like The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which have attained cult status. He wrote Heroes in 1977 during his period of artistic exile in West Berlin. And in the 1980s, hits like Let's Dance achieved mass appeal.

Bowie also branched out into painting and acting, starring as an extra-terrestrial in Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, a movie that has attained cult status alongside so much of his music.

His influence lives on. Lady Gaga imitates Bowie's transformations and futuristic inclinations. He was the one after all who kicked off the perpetual changes in persona, character and external appearance.

Bowie himself sees a unifying thread. 'Perhaps in the sense of isolation. Human isolation is one of the major themes running through my work.'

Isolation no longer applies to his private life. Bowie lives in New York, playing the primary role of father, where content has now become more important to him than presentation.

His daughter has major part in this, as he said in another interview that made clear he took his responsibilities as a father seriously. 'Otherwise I would soon have a little girl who asks me questions like: Why did you write something like that just after I was born? Thanks a lot.'