David Bowie — Incidents, Controversies & Personal Turmoil

The “Victoria Station” Incident (1976): Upon his return to London, Bowie was photographed greeting the crowd from an open Mercedes. The photograph appeared to show a Nazi salute, which led to enormous outrage in the British press. Bowie always denied that this was his intention; he stated that the photographer captured him in the middle of a waving motion.

Controversial statements about fascism: In the same period (during his Thin White Duke phase), Bowie made provocative statements in interviews. He called Adolf Hitler “one of the first rock stars” and suggested that Britain would benefit from a fascist leader. He later apologised for these remarks and attributed them to his severe cocaine addiction and the role he was playing.

The “Lollipop” incident (2004): During a concert in Oslo, Bowie got a lollipop stick in his eye after someone threw it from the audience. Although the stick was painfully stuck between his eyeball and eyelid, he finished the concert after a short break.

Fight over a girl (1962): As a teenager, Bowie became involved in a fight with his friend George Underwood over a girl. The punch Bowie received caused damage to his eye (anisocoria), resulting in his distinctive permanently dilated pupil.

In the mid-1970s, Bowie lived in Los Angeles under the influence of an extreme cocaine addiction. This led to bizarre and disturbing incidents:

He claimed that he lived on a diet consisting only of milk and red peppers.

He suffered from severe paranoia and psychosis; for example, he believed witches wanted to steal his semen and kept his urine in the refrigerator to prevent this.

He later stated that he had no active memory of recording his album Station to Station.

Lori Mattix: There are controversial stories about a relationship Bowie allegedly had in the early 1970s with the then-underage model Lori Mattix.

Abuse: His ex-wife Angie Bowie has accused him in the past of abuse during their marriage.

Marijuana arrest in Rochester (1976): After a concert in Rochester, New York, Bowie was arrested together with Iggy Pop and two others in their hotel room. Police seized approximately 225 grams (half a pound) of marijuana. The arrest produced one of the most iconic mugshots in rock history. The charge was ultimately dismissed by a grand jury.

Nazi memorabilia at the Russian border (1976): During a journey on the Trans-Siberian Express, Bowie was detained by customs at the Russian–Polish border because he was carrying books and memorabilia about Nazi Germany. Bowie later explained that this stemmed from an unhealthy, drug-fuelled obsession with history and the occult.

In 1975, Bowie’s cocaine addiction reached an absolute low, leading to bizarre behaviour:

Physical deterioration: At his thinnest, Bowie reportedly weighed only around 40 kilograms. He looked like a “singing skeleton” and sometimes stayed awake for five to six days in a row.

Occult obsessions: He was convinced that bodies were falling past his window and that his swimming pool was possessed by spirits. He also stored urine and nail clippings in the refrigerator to protect himself against “black magic.”

Relationship with his ex-wife: Angie Bowie claimed after his death that, in the late 1970s, while under the influence of drugs, he attempted to strangle her.

Feuds with other musicians: Bowie had complex relationships with colleagues. Elton John called him “haughty,” and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) of the Sex Pistols refused to share a stage with him, seeing Bowie as a “fake rebel.”

Bowie relocated to Berlin to escape addiction and media pressure. He lived in relative isolation and worked toward stability. This period is often described as a recovery phase following the psychological chaos of Los Angeles.

In a live MTV interview, Bowie openly challenged the channel about its lack of Black artists in regular rotation. The moment was uncomfortable at the time but is now often viewed as principled and forward-thinking.

The most severe incidents around David Bowie are concentrated in a short but intensely unstable period in the mid-1970s. Later, he distanced himself from that era, apologised for certain statements, and rebuilt his life with greater stability and control.