David Robert Jones was born in Brixton, London on January 8, 1947, apparently at his family's house at 40 Stansfield Road. He lived in Brixton until he was six years old, when his family moved to Bromley in Kent (now part of Greater London). He lived with his parents until he was eighteen. He stated that his earliest musical goal was to be a saxophone player in Little Richard's group. Initially a saxophonist, he was discovered, quite by accident, as a singer when he subbed in for a missing vocalist at a club in London. He played with various blues groups, such as "The King Bees," "The Manish Boys" and "The Lower Third" in the 1960s. Bowie's greatest strength throughout his career has been his ability to adapt his public image to fit, and often anticipate, the prevailing musical trends. His early work shifts through the blues and Elvis-esque music while working with many British pop styles.

Popular legend has it that in the spring of 1962, Bowie and his schoolmate, George Underwood, got into a fight over a girl. Underwood was wearing a ring when he struck Bowie, and it hit him in the left eye. Bowie was forced out of school for eight months and at one point it was feared that he would lose the sight in his left eye. He had several operations, but the doctors could not fully repair the damage, leaving his pupil permanently dilated. As a result, Bowie has faulty depth perception and his left eye, although naturally blue, now usually appears to be brown or green (depending on the ambient lighting). In any case, the difference between his eyes added an exotic element to the good looks that would benefit Bowie throughout his career. Coincidentally, Underwood later went on to do artwork for Bowie's earlier album covers.

Heavily influenced by the dramatic arts — from avant-garde theatre and mime to Commedia dell'arte—much of his work has involved the creation of characters or personae to present to the world. The aspiring rock star needed to use a different stage name to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees, so he chose the last name Bowie after the Alamo hero Jim Bowie and his famous Bowie Knife. David pronounces "Bowie" to rhyme with "Joey".

Bowie released his first solo album in 1967 for Deram records, simply called David Bowie, an amalgam of Psychedelic Rock and Easy Listening. Also released was a single, "The Laughing Gnome", with the cult-classic B-side "The Gospel According to Tony Day". None of these managed to chart; the 1967 album is hard to find today, although it exists in counterfeit copies. However, the materials of the album, the single, and several other works were later recycled in a multitude of compilation albums, and "The Laughing Gnome", much to Bowie's embarrassment, was re-released in 1973, selling over 250,000 copies to become one of his best selling singles.