Artist
David Bowie
Glam rock's chameleonic genius whose Thin White Duke persona, skeletal aesthetic, and albums like Station to Station provided crucial proto-goth influence. His 'deep and dramatic vocal timbre' became the template for gothic singers, even when pitched lower. Peter Murphy told The Quietus that Bowie was one of the singers who 'possess' him: 'Bowie gave permission to be artful, strange, elegant, alien.' As Murphy told MOJO, 'I'm like Bowie, Iggy, Frank Sinatra, Elvis all rolled into one'—acknowledging the lineage. Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin came from Bromley, Bowie's suburban birthplace, carrying forward his art-rock ambitions into punk's scorched-earth aftermath.