David Bowie remains one of the most famous names in music history, having risen to superstardom in the 1970s with hits like Starman and Life on Mars?, as well as acting in films such as the 1986 cult classic Labyrinth.
Sadly passing away in 2016 at the age of 69, the singer is being remembered in a new London exhibition, David Bowie: You're Not Alone, which showcases iconic performances, rarely seen interviews and never-before-exhibited material spanning his career.
© Getty ImagesWhile David's life continues to be celebrated and honoured by fans, there are still aspects of his personal life that remain less well known – namely, his early years with his first wife, Angie, with whom he shared a son.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about David Bowie's first wife, and what happened to her after the couple split in 1980.
Who is David Bowie's first wife?
David met his first wife, Angela "Angie" Bowie, at a gig at London's The Roundhouse in 1968. He was 21 at the time and performing with his band, The Feathers, while 17-year-old Angie was studying marketing and economics at Kingston Polytechnic.
© Corbis via Getty ImagesA few months later, the pair met again for dinner before heading to the Speakeasy club to see rock band King Crimson. Angie has said they didn't see each other again for some time after that night, but later reconnected when David invited her to his home in Beckenham.
Reflecting in a personal essay for the Daily Mail in 2016, Angie said: "I was falling hopelessly in love, though I could see my main potential to him was as a nurse, cook, housekeeper, creative ally and business adviser."
They later moved into Haddon Hall, a "grand old Victorian mansion" in Beckenham, before David proposed over the phone. They tied the knot at Bromley Register Office in 1970, when Angie was 19, and David was 23.
Who is David and Angie's son?
A year into their marriage, the couple welcomed their son, Duncan Jones (also known as Zowie), in 1971. Now 51, he is a BAFTA-winning film director best known for Moon (2009), Source Code (2011) and Mute (2018).
© Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesAngie described David as "a brilliant father, devoted and involved."
A near-death experience
During her marriage, Angie's life took a dramatic turn when she candidly revealed she had a near-death experience involving drugs.
"My lights went out, I keeled over and my heart stopped," she wrote. "A friend caught me and revived me. Without him, I would not have made it – David Bowie's wife dead at 25 right there in her evening dress, cold as a fish on a plate."
© RedfernsWhat happened after their marriage?
Despite their 10-year marriage, which Angie has said operated as an open arrangement, the couple divorced in 1980.
"It became clear that despite the deal we'd made at the outset – his career first, then mine – he was not going to help me. That was a deal-breaker for me," Angie said.
© Getty ImagesAfter going their separate ways, Angie said there had been "silence between us ever since", and she lost the relationship she once had with her son in the process. "Zowie just did not want to come and see me any more," she said, adding that she last tried to contact him when he was at boarding school at Gordonstoun in Scotland.
She wrote: "Today [2016], he is 45, a grown man who obviously does not want me as a mother. Now David is dead I am not going to get in touch with him."
© WireImageAngie's appearance on Big Brother
In 2016, Angie appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, where she learned of David's death in the diary room.
"I was shocked, completely unprepared for his death. I simply hadn't expected him to die before me," Angie explained. While they'd already been living separate lives for a long time by then, she admitted: "I kept thinking it can't be true. A relationship like that with a man like that, it defines your life."
© Getty ImagesAngie's second child
Angie later briefly married her second husband, musician Andrew Lipka, with whom she welcomed a daughter, Stacia. After their separation, Angie has been with her current partner, who works in construction, since 1993.
