Despite his ethereal, almost otherworldly style, David Bowie is one of London’s biggest-ever musical stars, and despite being an international star who lived and worked almost everywhere, so much of his life and fascinating art can be traced back to the streets of London and experienced via a private tour.
Whilst famous for his many Changes to the point that he was perhaps the first pop star with distinctive eras, he was not only shaped by London but himself shaped the city that he was born in and called home for so long.
Whilst there are many huge exhibitions, including one opening in September 2025 at the V&A East Storehouse (Part of the Victoria & Albert Museum), as with The Beatles in Liverpool and Queen in London, the most fascinating way to explore his life is through some of the most notable places in his life.
Stansfield Road, Brixton
At number 40 Stansfield Road in Brixton on 8th January 1947, Peggy and John Jones welcomed to the world David Robert Jones.
It is a rather unassuming house but it and Stockwell Primary School down the road was where a lot of the future Mr Bowie’s formative years took place.
Bromley Technical High School
Have you ever wondered how David Bowie ended up with such unusual eyes, not only of different colours but also with different pupil sizes? This feature, one of the most distinctive of a particularly unique man, was the result of an incident at Bromley Technical High School.
George Underwood, a childhood friend of Mr Bowie along with musician Peter Frampton and later the artist behind the famous cover for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, was the man responsible.
When Mr Bowie and Mr Underwood were 15 years old, they had a little falling out over a girl they both liked, the latter hit the former in the eye, accidentally scratched the pupil and left him with permanent damage.
Technically Mr Bowie’s eyes are the same colour, but because of the different dilations simply look different, but such a distinctive feature was the result of a fight in London.
The two remained extremely close friends for the rest of Mr Bowie’s life and whilst George Underwood did not have a lengthy career, he would become famous as a cover artist.
Denmark Street
Home of London’s Tin Pan Alley, Denmark Street on London’s West End was a home away from home for Teenage Wildlife David Bowie and his friend Marc Bolan (later of T-Rex), and they would spend a lot of time at La Gioconda, a coffee bar that is now the Flat Iron steak restaurant.
It would also be where the former would meet and end up in a relationship with blues singer Dana Gilsepie, the nearby Marquee Club would be where many of his early performances took place, and his first agent happened to work next door.
Not too far down the road was Trident Studios, where many of Bowie’s early classics were recorded, including Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust.
Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park
Based in Kennington, right next to the Imperial War Museum, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park is a beautiful place to relax in the capital and escape a little bit of the hustle and bustle, but it also connects to David Bowie’s life in a very fascinating way.
In the park is a section of the Berlin Wall, the shadow of which hung over three of David Bowie’s most challenging, unique and incredibly unique albums.
Collectively known as the Berlin Trilogy, only part of Low and Heroes was recorded at Hansa Studios, a music studio based right next to the Berlin Wall.
Songs such as Low’s Sound And Vision emphasised the unusual contrast Mr Bowie found in Berlin, a mix of escape and adoration but in the shadow of confinement, division and struggles.
Rather fittingly, the section of wall found in the park features graffiti that says “Change Your Life”, something that he would eventually do.
Great Queen Street, Covent Garden
The former home of the Blitz nightclub, Covent Garden was at the epicentre of the David Bowie story, as in 1980 it would influence one of his greatest ever periods, rather ironically because he had managed to influence the famous Blitz Kids.
The Blitz Kids had moved from Billy’s in Soho and were part of a reactionary stylistic and musical movement that had gotten sick of the nihilist and intentionally drab first wave of punk music.
It was the home of the New Romantics, young people obsessed with outrageous style and
soundtracked by a synthesiser-laden pop sound later known as new wave.
In 1980, David Bowie would walk into Blitz and before the year was out, Ashes to Ashes would blast the New Romantic movement into the mainstream, where it would essentially shape the rest of the 1980s, even though Blitz itself only lasted another year.
