David Bowie’s Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Downloads revealed!

Following the death of David Bowie, we look at the most downloaded tracks of his impressive career.

The music world was in mourning on January 11, 2016 following the announcement of the death of rock legend David Bowie.

From his humble beginnings as David Jones in Brixton, south London, to worldwide megastardom, David Bowie was never far from the charts.

In recognition of his hugely successful career, spanning six decades, we count down David Bowie's Digital Top 40, the most downloaded songs from his impressive chart history. View David Bowie's complete Official UK Chart history here.

Life On Mars

It's perhaps no surprise that Life On Mars is Bowie's most downloaded song in the UK. Originally featuring on 1971 album Hunky Dory, it wasn't until Bowie found success with his Ziggy Stardust album that Life On Mars got some recognition. It finally became a single in 1973 and reached Number 3.

Life On Mars found new fans when it was featured in a BBC drama of the same name. The show's follow-up, Ashes To Ashes, was also named after a Bowie hit (Number 9 on this countdown).

Under Pressure

This 1981 Number 1 was a true megastar collaboration, bringing together David and fellow UK rock legends Queen, with David and lead singer Freddie Mercury locked in a powerful vocal face-off. The talented pair even improvised some of the lyrics during the recording.

Under Pressure was heavily sampled for Vanilla Ice's 1990 Number 1 Ice Ice Baby.

Heroes

Despite originally missing the Top 20 upon original release in 1977, Heroes has found new fans in the digital age. Bowie's uplifting anthem was covered by 2010's X Factor finalists – including One Direction – for a charity single, taking it to Number 1, and was adopted as theme song by Team GB during their 2012 London Olympics campaign.

Let's Dance

Bowie's most recent solo Number 1 in 1983 – he'd go on to top the charts with Mick Jagger on a cover of Dancing In The Street in 1985 – spent three weeks at the summit. It's also his best selling single in the UK.

Space Oddity

The song that started it all, Space Oddity was Bowie's debut chart hit back in 1969. The haunting track also scored another first for David – when re-released in 1975, it became his very first chart-topper. Four more would follow.

David Bowie's Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Downloads

	TRACK	PEAK POSITION	YEAR
1	LIFE ON MARS	3	1973
2	UNDER PRESSURE (WITH QUEEN)	1	1981
3	HEROES	24	1977
4	LET'S DANCE	1	1983
5	SPACE ODDITY	1	1969/1975
6	STARMAN	10	1972
7	CHANGES	N/A	1972
8	ASHES TO ASHES	1	1980
9	WHERE ARE WE NOW	6	2013
10	REBEL REBEL	5	1974
11	PEACE ON EARTH/LITTLE DRUMMER BOY	3	1982
12	MODERN LOVE	2	1983
13	CHINA GIRL	2	1983
14	THE JEAN GENIE	2	1972
15	SOUND AND VISION	3	1977
16	ZIGGY STARDUST	N/A	1972
17	ALL THE YOUNG DUDES	N/A	1995
18	DANCING IN THE STREET (WITH MICK JAGGER)	1	1985
19	MAGIC DANCE E.P.	N/A	1986
20	ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS	2	1986
21	THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD	39*	1971
22	GOLDEN YEARS	8	1975
23	YOUNG AMERICANS	18	1975
24	OH YOU PRETTY THINGS	N/A	1971
25	QUEEN BITCH	N/A	1971
26	SUFFRAGETTE CITY	N/A	1972
27	FASHION	5	1980
28	SORROW	3	1973
29	THE LAUGHING GNOME	6	1973
30	CAT PEOPLE (PUTTING OUT FIRE)	26	1982
31	FAME '90 E.P.	28	1990
32	AS THE WORLD FALLS DOWN	N/A	1986
33	LIVE EP (WITH ARCADE FIRE)	N/A	2005
34	JOHN I'M ONLY DANCING	12	1972
35	MOONAGE DAYDREAM	N/A	1972
36	WILD IS THE WIND	24	1981
37	ROCK 'N' ROLL SUICIDE	22	1974
38	FIVE YEARS	N/A	1972
39	KOOKS	N/A	1971
40	DRIVE IN SATURDAY	3	1973

*Released as double-A side with Strangers When We Meet in 1995.

Main image: REX

Relive David Bowie's incredible chart career in our gallery of his album artwork below:

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DAVID BOWIE

maidenfan

11th January 2016

cant believe my idol david bowie has passed away ive got everyone of his albums but im sorry to say blackstar is his worst album, but he has left me with so many memories so i can't complain, first lemmy now david music will now be poorer

Jamie Crampton

11th January 2016

Pretty sure Changes was a "triple a-side" with Space Oddity and Velvet Goldmine in 1975.

RockGolf

11th January 2016

Compare & contrast to the list of David Bowie's top 20 US (including rock charts) & UK hits.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/rockgolf/bowie_hit_singles

Also, last time I checked, almost 40 Bowie tracks were in the iTunes top 200 in the UK. Several were the same track on 2 or more albums, but it looks likely that we'll see 5 or more tracks in the actual top 40 if this continues. Maybe "Changes" will finally debut on the UK charts.