He is commonly known as the chameleon of pop, predicting trends and adjusting his style and persona, while holding on to his own ideas and creativity. A multi-instrumentalist, he is famous for playing guitar, keyboard and saxophone; but also plays harmonica, drums, cello, marimba, bass, koto and stylophone. He first rose to prominence with the heady, 1969 folk rock singleSpace Oddity" but is perhaps best known for the single "Changes" from Hunky Dory (1971), and the flamboyant, androgynous glam rock of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), and Aladdin Sane (1973). Subsequent albums have explored blue-eyed soul, electronica and new wave, often predating these genres' popularity or even the point at which they were defined as genres. The so-called "Berlin Trilogy", although receiving mixed commercial success at the time, is seen by many today as masterful and groundbreaking. After the slumping sales in the mid- to late-1970s, Bowie again gained commercial success in the early 1980s with his hit single "Ashes to Ashes" and the album it came from, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). He reached his commercial peak with his singles "Modern Love," "China Girl" and "Let's Dance", the latter the title track of his very successful 1983 album. Many fans and neutral observers will argue that Bowie's consistency as a songwriter became more hit-and-miss afterwards. "

Bowie has had a profound influence on rock music from the 1970s to the present. In the cable music network VH1's 2000 list of the 100 greatest artists of rock and roll, Bowie ranked seventh. In the British Broadcasting Corporation's list of 100 greatest Britons, Bowie ranked 29. He has sold an estimated 136 million albums in his career and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In addition to his musical career, Bowie has had success as an actor, starring in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), The Hunger (1983), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), LabyrinthThe Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Basquiat (1996). (1986),