26 Rare Facts About David Bowie You Didn't Know

Are you the ultimate David Bowie fan? Did you know that he predicted the success of the internet in the 90s? Or what his top 25 karaoke songs are? We have 26 facts about the music icon that may surprise you! Warning: you might want to have a Bowie karaoke session after this so here's a free 14 day trial to Lucky Voice Online Karaoke to help you out!

1. Ever been confused with how to pronounce Bowie? Is it pronounced with an 'ow' or 'oh'? Turns out it's meant to rhyme with Joey!

2. Bowie and friend George Underwood fought over a girl so much, his pal punched him in the eye resulting in a permanently dilated left pupil.

3. When Bowie was 17, he was the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men after complaining "it's not nice when people call you darling and that."

4. Before they coined their stage names, he used to meet with Elton John (then Reginald Kenneth Dwight) at a Soho cafe to talk about music. They later had a feud lasting over 40 years when Elton found out Bowie called him 'rock 'n' roll's token queen' in a Rolling Stones interview.

5. Rumour has it, Bowie had a phobia of tea and hasn't drunk it since he had a 'horrible incident' with a cuppa when he was 5 years old.

6. He wasn't one for titles as he declined a CBE in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003 stating, "I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don't know what it's for. It's not what I spent my life working for".

7. Bowie plays most of the instruments in his album 'Diamond Dogs'. Yep, even that incredible guitar riff in Rebel Rebel.

8. He was on Broadway in The Elephant Man for 3 months in the 80s.

9 Bowie and his wife Iman were characters in a video game called Omikron in 1999 - he also provided the soundtrack for it too.

10. Bowie created his own mime group called Turquoise in 1969 before changing the name to Feathers.

11. He predicted the success of the internet in the 90s. David Bowie even launched his own internet service provider in 1997 and called it Bowienet.

12. Who recognises Bowie's voice as the character Lord Royal Highness in Spongebob Squarepants?!

13. As well as Ziggy Stardust, Bowie's other alter-egos include Major Tom, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, Tao Jones, Halloween Jack and John Merrick.

14. Bowie only had one qualification at school - and that was an O-level in Art. Throughout his career, he often painted, sculpted and drew in his spare time.

15. Arcade Fire and TV On The Radio were two of Bowie's favourite bands.

16. Space Oddity was Bowie's first hit in the UK and was featured in the BBC coverage of the moon landing!

17. Space Oddity was also recorded in Italian. It was called 'Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Solo' which means 'Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl'.

18. Iman has a Bowie knife tattooed on her ankle as tribute to her husband.

19. John Lennon was the co-writer and backing vocalist of Bowie's 1975 hit, Fame. It was his first number 1 single in the US!

20. A music legend in the making: Bowie learnt to play the saxophone at 12 years old.

21. He has a spier species named after him called Heteropoda Davidbowie. It was first discovered in Malaysia in 2009.

22. As if being punched in the eye wasn't enough, poor Bowie was also hit by a lollipop in his Norway gig in 2004. Ouch.

23. Bing Crosby's last ever single was a duet of Little Drummer Boy with David Bowie in 1977. Bowie *hated* the song so much, he outright refused to sing it and requested Peace on Earth instead.

24. Remember the coo-ing and laughing baby in the song Magic Dance from the film Labyrinth? Bowie did the gurgling for it! 

25. Bowie was estimated to have sold over 140 million albums throughout his career.

26. Can you guess which other music icon has the same birthday as Bowie on January 8th? Psst... he's often referred to as the king of rock 'n' roll!