Read the Signs: Rue David Bowie

This Paris street is named after the late pop legend, David Bowie.

The city of Paris has honoured the Thin White Duke, unveiling Rue David Bowie – just downstairs from the newsroom of Le Monde on what would have been his 77th birthday. City of Paris officials said the legendary British musician was unquestionably one of the greatest names in the history of rock and pop – “a visionary artist with multiple alter egos, including the famous Ziggy Stardust, he was also remarkably productive, with 25 albums over the course of his career”.

The city praised Bowie’s ability to combine different characters, styles and music, enabling him to appeal across generations. The artist had many strong ties to Paris. He was just 18 in 1965 when he made his first appearance outside the UK with his band The Lower Third at a concert at the Golf-Drouot in Paris, a concert hall nicknamed the ‘Temple of Rock’. He would come back to perform innumerable times, and, the story goes, he proposed to his wife Iman, on a bateau mouche on the Seine. The idea to name the street in the 13th arrondissement after Bowie came from the area’s mayor, Jerome Coumet. A huge fan of the icon, he first suggested the idea in 2020 and won City approval the same year.

From France Today Magazine