David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published:15th Jan '26
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
'The Bowie you thought you knew is recast completely' Helen Barrett, The Spectator
'a transfixing look at David Bowie's life through a spiritual lens... fresh and revealing' Publishers Weekly
The story of how David Bowie's search for meaning inspired him to write the music that defined a generation.
In this wide-ranging biography, Peter Ormerod explores the quest for spirituality that powered David Bowie's creativity from his earliest recordings to his death-defying final album. Bowie’s genre-expanding, era-crossing genius had an extraordinary impact on popular culture but his life-long search for spiritual truth and enlightenment has been overlooked.
From Bowie's first musical encounters as a choirboy, this book traces his spiritual obsessions over the years. As a young musician at the start of his career, he was enraptured by Tibetan Buddhism. It was the first step in a spiritual journey that would generate his most profound lyrics and music. From the Kabbalah-influenced tracks of Station to Station to Ziggy Stardust's messiah complex and the profound affinity between Heroes and Christian thought, Ormerod sheds new light on the spiritual traditions behind Bowie's genius.
Taking Bowie’s spiritual explorations and faith seriously, Ormerod shows us how this quest for meaning propelled him through his darkest moments and biggest successes, lending his music a timelessness and depth that has spoken to so many people across the world. Whether experiencing a dark night of the soul in LA during his occult phase or reciting the Lord's prayer in front of thousands of concertgoers, Bowie was always searching for that universal truth that lies beyond everyday reality.
Ormerod has written one of the best and most original books of those published to mark a decade since Bowie’s death from cancer in January 2016...The Bowie you thought you knew is recast completely - Helen Barrett, The Spectator
A fresh and revealing look at a much celebrated artist. * Publishers Weekly *
Peter Ormerod’s book is a monumental, compelling, and profoundly original study of David Bowie’s spiritual and religious ideas, inspirations and meditations. Bowie always had a search for meaning at the centre of his music. There was a spiritual muse which both grounded his ideas and guided the way to a transcendent realm, more real than the mundane suburbia of his younger days. For anyone whose life was transformed by Bowie’s music, or who wishes to gain an understanding of the deeper ramifications of Bowie’s ideas, then this wonderful book is essential reading. * Dr Paul Fuller, Lecturer in Buddhist Studies, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh *
Who knew we needed another Bowie book? This thoughtful deep dive into the artist’s spiritual curiosity traces how faith, mysticism and doubt shapes his music. * the I Paper *
ISBN: 9781399422826
Dimensions: 236mm x 158mm x 30mm
Weight: 464g
256 pages