David Bowie was born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947, in Brixton, London to Margaret Mary "Peggy" Jones, a cinema usherette, and Haywood Stenton "John" Jones, a publicity director for an orphanage. Haywood helped organize charity shows in the '50s and introduced his son to all the stars, giving David an early look into the entertainment industry.
David Jones changed his name in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees. He told Rolling Stone the name comes from the Bowie knife: "I was into a kind of heavy philosophy thing when I was 16 years old, and I wanted a truism about cutting through the lies and all that."
Bowie attended Bromley Technical School in London, where he was taught art by Peter Frampton's father, Owen. Peter Frampton was also a schoolmate and he recalled his relationship with Bowie to Uncut. "Ever since we used to hang out together at school and play on the arts block stairs at lunchtime, we both had the same drive. I was purely about the music, whereas David, from a very early age, was image conscious and knew how important that was. I think that was because of his artist background, through working with my dad. He was one of the first artists to realize that you've got to keep reinventing yourself."
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