Question 1

True or false: Bowie’s hit 'Space Oddity' was inspired by the 2001: A Space Odyssey film.

Accepted Answer

False. It was actually inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s film, but the song’s title and theme also riff on the film’s release year, 1968.

Question 2

True or false: Bowie had heterochromia, meaning his eyes were two different colors.

Accepted Answer

True. A teen fight left his left pupil permanently dilated, making it appear a different color—a condition called anisocoria, not true heterochromia.

Question 3

True or false: Bowie played a cameo as himself in the movie 'Zoolander'.

Accepted Answer

False. He never appeared in 'Zoolander'; he did cameo in 'The Prestige' and 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me', but not that comedy.

Question 4

True or false: David Bowie’s real name was David Robert Jones.

Accepted Answer

True. He was born David Robert Jones but changed his surname to Bowie in 1966 to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees.

Question 5

True or false: Bowie was offered a knighthood but turned it down twice.

Accepted Answer

True. He declined a CBE in 2000 and a knighthood in 2003, saying he wasn’t interested in such honors.

Question 6

True or false: Bowie invented the term 'glam rock' to describe his own music.

Accepted Answer

False. The term 'glam rock' was coined by music journalists in the early 1970s, not by Bowie himself.

Question 7

True or false: Bowie once recorded a song entirely in Japanese for a concept album.

Accepted Answer

False. He never recorded a full song in Japanese; he used nonsensical syllables in 'Life on Mars?' but no real Japanese lyrics.

Question 8

True or false: Bowie’s album 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust' was originally a Broadway musical.

Accepted Answer

False. It was conceived as a rock opera and stage show, but never a full Broadway musical; a stage version debuted in 2023, long after his death.

David Bowie Trivia Questions