Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Declares September 23 David Bowie Day In Celebration Of Art Exhibition Opening

David Bowie Day: Chicago Mayor Rahm declared September 23rd "David Bowie Day" and space cadets couldn't be happier. It has been fifty years since David released his first single. The Thin White Duke is being celebrated with a music and art retrospective in the city just as David Bowie is getting ready to release his new album.

The Mayor of Chicago said Bowie is a "global icon" whose far-ranging influence can be seen in music, art, fashion, design and "theatrical canons."

"Through imaginative material and provocative performances that include lauded lyricism and risqué subject matters, and employ stunning visual displays and flamboyant costumes, David Bowis has impacted and inspired millions of fans across the globe for more than 50 years," the Chicago Mayor wrote in the David Bowie Day proclamation.

On David Bowie Day, Sept. 23, Chicago will see the opening of the music and art retrospective, "David Bowie Is..." at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The Bowie exhibition arrives in Chicago after running in London, Berlin, Sao Paulo and Toronto. It will feature more than 400 items from Bowie's personal archives. Handwritten lyrics, original costumes, photos, album art and rare performance footage will be featured.The exhibition runs from Sept, 23 to Jan. 4, 2015. 

David Bowie changed his persona dozens of times in his almost fifty years in music, film, TV and stage.

David Bowie's new album will hit stores soon. It took ten years for David Bowie to follow-up 2003's "Reality" with last year's Grammy-winning "The Next Day." Bowie announced during the summer that  he wiil release "more music soon."

David Bowie hasn't played live, publicly, since he paired with Alicia Keys in 2006, although there have been rumors on rumors in the musical community of secret jams.

David Bowie celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first single "Liza Jane" this year. Of course at the time he was 17 years old and was still called Davie Jones and he was playing with the King Bees.  Davie Jones changed his name to Bowie because there was another British singer actor with the name Davy Jones playing in a band called The Monkees. They were all over the TV and the radio and Bowie, who took his name from the Bowie knife, was going in a different direction.