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David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God: A spiritual meditation on his music and creativity
The story of how David Bowie's search for meaning inspired him to write the music that defined a generation.
In this wide-ranging biography, Peter Ormerod explores the quest for spirituality that powered David Bowie's creativity from his earliest recordings to his death-defying final album. Bowie's genre-expanding, era-crossing genius had an extraordinary impact on popular culture but his life-long search for spiritual truth and enlightenment has been overlooked.
From Bowie's first musical encounters as a choirboy, this book traces his spiritual obsessions over the years. As a young musician at the start of his career, he was enraptured by Tibetan Buddhism. It was the first step in a spiritual journey that would generate his most profound lyrics and music. From the Kabbalah-influenced tracks of Station to Station to Ziggy Stardust's messiah complex and the Christian inspiration behind Heroes, Ormerod sheds new light on the spiritual traditions behind Bowie's genius.
Taking Bowie's spiritual explorations and faith seriously, Ormerod shows us how this quest for meaning propelled him through his darkest moments and biggest successes, lending his music a timelessness and depth that has spoken to so many people across the world. Whether experiencing a dark night of the soul in LA during his occult phase or reciting the Lord's prayer in front of thousands of concertgoers, Bowie was always searching for that universal truth that lies beyond everyday reality.
In this wide-ranging biography, Peter Ormerod explores the quest for spirituality that powered David Bowie's creativity from his earliest recordings to his death-defying final album. Bowie's genre-expanding, era-crossing genius had an extraordinary impact on popular culture but his life-long search for spiritual truth and enlightenment has been overlooked.
From Bowie's first musical encounters as a choirboy, this book traces his spiritual obsessions over the years. As a young musician at the start of his career, he was enraptured by Tibetan Buddhism. It was the first step in a spiritual journey that would generate his most profound lyrics and music. From the Kabbalah-influenced tracks of Station to Station to Ziggy Stardust's messiah complex and the Christian inspiration behind Heroes, Ormerod sheds new light on the spiritual traditions behind Bowie's genius.
Taking Bowie's spiritual explorations and faith seriously, Ormerod shows us how this quest for meaning propelled him through his darkest moments and biggest successes, lending his music a timelessness and depth that has spoken to so many people across the world. Whether experiencing a dark night of the soul in LA during his occult phase or reciting the Lord's prayer in front of thousands of concertgoers, Bowie was always searching for that universal truth that lies beyond everyday reality.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published January 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 12, 2026
3.5 stars
"David Bowie's [music] career spanned 50 years of remarkable change, but his quest for a spiritual foundation inspired his creativity and fired his imagination throughout. It powered some of his greatest songs and shaped his defining works. It pushed him, pulled him, called him onwards." -- on page 4
Much like the way he would adopt different personas throughout the 1970's and into the early 80's (Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Thin White Duke, etc.) with each new album or tour, talented singer / songwriter / musician / actor David Bowie also scrutinized religions and spiritual matters for some enlightenment and inspiration along the way. Author Ormerod offers a biography of Bowie filtered through the different theologies and disciplines (Christianity, Buddhism, the occult by way of Aleister Crowley, the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche, and good old American vanguard rock & roll in the form of the unique Little Richard) he perused during his career. Although Bowie's natural and open-minded curiosity regarding said matters was interesting - but sometimes the chapters began to meander - much better were the bio-related aspects which revealed that he was a fascinating man. I submit such random moments as 1.) he wrote his own character biography to better understand and essay the role when adroitly playing Pontius Pilate in director Martin Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ and 2.) that late in his life he charmingly responded - when asked by an interviewer about his crowning career achievements - that "Marrying my wife - nothing else counts" (referencing his long union to the outrageously attractive Iman) - instead was his singular answer.
"David Bowie's [music] career spanned 50 years of remarkable change, but his quest for a spiritual foundation inspired his creativity and fired his imagination throughout. It powered some of his greatest songs and shaped his defining works. It pushed him, pulled him, called him onwards." -- on page 4
Much like the way he would adopt different personas throughout the 1970's and into the early 80's (Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Thin White Duke, etc.) with each new album or tour, talented singer / songwriter / musician / actor David Bowie also scrutinized religions and spiritual matters for some enlightenment and inspiration along the way. Author Ormerod offers a biography of Bowie filtered through the different theologies and disciplines (Christianity, Buddhism, the occult by way of Aleister Crowley, the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche, and good old American vanguard rock & roll in the form of the unique Little Richard) he perused during his career. Although Bowie's natural and open-minded curiosity regarding said matters was interesting - but sometimes the chapters began to meander - much better were the bio-related aspects which revealed that he was a fascinating man. I submit such random moments as 1.) he wrote his own character biography to better understand and essay the role when adroitly playing Pontius Pilate in director Martin Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ and 2.) that late in his life he charmingly responded - when asked by an interviewer about his crowning career achievements - that "Marrying my wife - nothing else counts" (referencing his long union to the outrageously attractive Iman) - instead was his singular answer.
February 4, 2026
Full disclosure: the author, Peter Ormerod, is a good friend of mine. Perhaps I'm more likely to give him a positive review. I've certainly always appreciated his thoughtful diligence and his considered construction of a compelling argument – both of which are in full display here in this rather brilliant exploration of David Bowie's career, as seen through the lens of his question for spiritual understanding.
This is going to be a book that appeals primarily to the Bowie fans, of course. That's not me, although I've always appreciated the few songs of his I've heard. So it's surely to the author's credit that I not only learned a lot in this compelling study of a man in search of spiritual solid ground, but that I enjoyed it too. And I didn't just learn about Bowie either: there's fascinating things to read about Aleister Crowley, about Buddhism, about the creative process, about his collaborators and his lovers, about Nazism and much, much more besides. Taking a chronological approach and working from Bowie's earliest works to his last days, it's impressive that this book (encompassing as many of the disparate subjects above as it does) never feels meandering or aimless – there's a strong sense of direction and each step feels firmly grounded in the last. Ormerod reminds us that Bowie had a reputation for being mercurial, but his book helped me see a careful journey.
If there's a wish I had that felt unfulfilled, it's that I wanted to know more about why these things were important to the author. It's undoubtedly a skilled, beautifully detailed piece of research and it's also an engaging premise, but I did want to know more about why it mattered to Ormerod. Your mileage may vary: my friendship with him was my motivation to read the book in the first place, so of course it's going to be of interest to me. You may not care, but I expect that on some level you might. Why? Well, I've always understood on some level that David Bowie is an inspirational artist – and devotees who are deeply connected in this way often search for others who feel the same.
Reading David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God has helped me understand why Bowie holds the place he does in your hearts. As someone who knew next to nothing about him before I opened the front cover, that's a towering achievement.
This is going to be a book that appeals primarily to the Bowie fans, of course. That's not me, although I've always appreciated the few songs of his I've heard. So it's surely to the author's credit that I not only learned a lot in this compelling study of a man in search of spiritual solid ground, but that I enjoyed it too. And I didn't just learn about Bowie either: there's fascinating things to read about Aleister Crowley, about Buddhism, about the creative process, about his collaborators and his lovers, about Nazism and much, much more besides. Taking a chronological approach and working from Bowie's earliest works to his last days, it's impressive that this book (encompassing as many of the disparate subjects above as it does) never feels meandering or aimless – there's a strong sense of direction and each step feels firmly grounded in the last. Ormerod reminds us that Bowie had a reputation for being mercurial, but his book helped me see a careful journey.
If there's a wish I had that felt unfulfilled, it's that I wanted to know more about why these things were important to the author. It's undoubtedly a skilled, beautifully detailed piece of research and it's also an engaging premise, but I did want to know more about why it mattered to Ormerod. Your mileage may vary: my friendship with him was my motivation to read the book in the first place, so of course it's going to be of interest to me. You may not care, but I expect that on some level you might. Why? Well, I've always understood on some level that David Bowie is an inspirational artist – and devotees who are deeply connected in this way often search for others who feel the same.
Reading David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God has helped me understand why Bowie holds the place he does in your hearts. As someone who knew next to nothing about him before I opened the front cover, that's a towering achievement.
December 28, 2025
it's definitely clear that ormerod is inspired by david bowie on such a strong level and that's something i can always respect and appreciate when reading a book like this. unfortunately though this wasn't my cup of tea due to the fact that i think it was a bit too heavy on the explanations and definitions without putting bowie at the forefront very much. i enjoyed the deep dives into different forms of spirituality and occasional side notes on bowie nonetheless!
December 20, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Continuum for an advance copy of this book that looks at the life, music and creative interest that helped shape one of the most transforming and transformational artists in rock music, a man of many personas, interests, foibles, follies fascinations.
I starting paying attention to music about the same time I started having an interest in poetry. Something has switched on in my brain, either I had grown-up, grown in interest, or maybe found a connection to creativity I never had before. Lyrics became important, while before I could just put on a radio channel and not care what was being sung. Certain bands caught my ear, certain artists became people I would follow years later, their songs still meaning much to me in my life. And certain artists seemed way to too cool for me. David Bowie was one of these artists. Even reading little blurbs in Rolling Stone guide to music seemed to much, like trying to understand the Lord of Rings by learning Pippin's bit of it. Zigg, Thin White Duke, magic, mystery Mars, it seemed a little too much for me. Until it wasn't. I was older working in the record store, when Bowie worked his magic on me. The later stuff not the Berlin trilogy, which I went back to. Like Dylan much has been written about this artist, and like Dylan there still seems to be more to learn. I have read quite a bit about Bowie, but this book seems to get to the heart of the man. David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God is written by Peter Ormerod, and looks at an artist who spent most of his life looking for answers to questions that mattered most to him, questions he seemed to work out creatively in music, on stage, and in who Bowie choose to be, that day.
The book is both a biography, a study of the music, and the many influences, from history, philosophy, religion, fashion, magic, and even nature that the artist known as David Bowie drew on. The book starts at the beginning about a boy growing up in a family with dreams that never seemed to come through. Davy Jones was a typical boy growing up Church of England, singing in choir, until the demon music of rock and roll unleashed something in him. A creative force of music that would alow young Davy to be what he wanted to be. Though he would always be wondering what that was. Bands were formed, egos were bruised, music was made but never seemed to hit with the popular music crowd. Until the artist changed his name, and began to look beyond himself, and to transform himself. Something that would be followed throughout his career. The author writes of these different interests, Christianity, something that Bowie oddly hung onto, an interest in Buddhism early in his career, something that also stayed with him. Mime, mimicry and magic, along with magick began to become a focus, allowing the artist to write and create in ways he never thought possible. Cutting lyrics up to make new songs helped him reach different parts of his brain and his soul. All of these ideas covered in this book.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, a much different book about an artist, that people today would not understand was such an impact. Ormerod is a very good writer, able to write about the music, the man and the many, many things that influenced Bowie and his music. Ormerod covers the ups and downs, of Bowie's career, but it is the quest to understand things that Ormerod really covers well. I found myself listening to old songs with new ears, hearing things I never knew, nor understood before. Some interpretations will probably be in the eye of the writer, but Ormerod really backs up much of what Ormerod writes with sources and notes. Which will lead many a reader to new and interesting places.
A really interesting biography, one that I quite enjoyed. This is the first book I have read by Ormerod, but would love to read his take on other artists, and ways of thinking. I look forward to what Ormerod has planned next.
I starting paying attention to music about the same time I started having an interest in poetry. Something has switched on in my brain, either I had grown-up, grown in interest, or maybe found a connection to creativity I never had before. Lyrics became important, while before I could just put on a radio channel and not care what was being sung. Certain bands caught my ear, certain artists became people I would follow years later, their songs still meaning much to me in my life. And certain artists seemed way to too cool for me. David Bowie was one of these artists. Even reading little blurbs in Rolling Stone guide to music seemed to much, like trying to understand the Lord of Rings by learning Pippin's bit of it. Zigg, Thin White Duke, magic, mystery Mars, it seemed a little too much for me. Until it wasn't. I was older working in the record store, when Bowie worked his magic on me. The later stuff not the Berlin trilogy, which I went back to. Like Dylan much has been written about this artist, and like Dylan there still seems to be more to learn. I have read quite a bit about Bowie, but this book seems to get to the heart of the man. David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God is written by Peter Ormerod, and looks at an artist who spent most of his life looking for answers to questions that mattered most to him, questions he seemed to work out creatively in music, on stage, and in who Bowie choose to be, that day.
The book is both a biography, a study of the music, and the many influences, from history, philosophy, religion, fashion, magic, and even nature that the artist known as David Bowie drew on. The book starts at the beginning about a boy growing up in a family with dreams that never seemed to come through. Davy Jones was a typical boy growing up Church of England, singing in choir, until the demon music of rock and roll unleashed something in him. A creative force of music that would alow young Davy to be what he wanted to be. Though he would always be wondering what that was. Bands were formed, egos were bruised, music was made but never seemed to hit with the popular music crowd. Until the artist changed his name, and began to look beyond himself, and to transform himself. Something that would be followed throughout his career. The author writes of these different interests, Christianity, something that Bowie oddly hung onto, an interest in Buddhism early in his career, something that also stayed with him. Mime, mimicry and magic, along with magick began to become a focus, allowing the artist to write and create in ways he never thought possible. Cutting lyrics up to make new songs helped him reach different parts of his brain and his soul. All of these ideas covered in this book.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, a much different book about an artist, that people today would not understand was such an impact. Ormerod is a very good writer, able to write about the music, the man and the many, many things that influenced Bowie and his music. Ormerod covers the ups and downs, of Bowie's career, but it is the quest to understand things that Ormerod really covers well. I found myself listening to old songs with new ears, hearing things I never knew, nor understood before. Some interpretations will probably be in the eye of the writer, but Ormerod really backs up much of what Ormerod writes with sources and notes. Which will lead many a reader to new and interesting places.
A really interesting biography, one that I quite enjoyed. This is the first book I have read by Ormerod, but would love to read his take on other artists, and ways of thinking. I look forward to what Ormerod has planned next.
February 10, 2026
This is a very holistic exploration of Bowie’s story, brilliantly considered and examined by Ormerod. In fact the story could so easily be an obscure and dense meandering through the enchantment of a rock star with eastern religions, mind-altering drugs, and esoteric systems of all types, but the account is sharpened and given perfect clarity by Ormerod’s critical thinking and lucid writing style.
I feel this book belongs to the genre of ‘Cultural Criticism’ because what the author has to say about Bowie applies equally to the culture and spirit of the 1960s and 1970s. Bowie was a product of that culture, and an iconoclast against it. One of Bowie’s many public personas was that of a performance artist who during his life adopted many different masks which accentuated our unending journey in search of our own authentic self. He also reflected the diverse spiritual obsessions of those decades; and my initial interest in this topic, when I first read the author’s preliminary articles on Substack, was a feeling that I identified with some specifics of Bowie’s spiritual search (but certainly not all of it!)
This author handles the subject with acute intelligence and originality, often highlighting new connections that surprise the reader.
Bowie’s journey is poignant and fascinating to me for many reasons but one is that he spent several years of his early life in Bromley which I know well and is very near where I was born and brought up. I too emerged disenchanted and unsatisfied with the C of E and in my early 20s was drawn to Buddhism just like Bowie. Even the first words spoken to, and misunderstood by, Bowie: ‘You are looking for me’, seem to carry the same meaning as the words I heard at a Buddhist retreat: ‘If you’ve been searching all your life and not found what you’re looking for you’ve come to the right place’.
The fact that Bowie wove his tumultuous journey into every part of his prolific creative output is inspirational. Ormerod’s assessment of Bowie’s lyrics throughout the book is astonishingly meticulous and insightful as is to be expected of a gifted arts critic.
I find the end of the book very sad and moving with its description of Bowie’s final months and days and also in that his last creative work was ‘Lazarus’, where the image of him with bandaged face and button eyes is so disturbing. It would be nice to think Bowie finally reached a clear and stable position in regard to his beliefs, but of course, life is not like that. Even his choice of how to mark the scattering of his ashes (in his case a Buddhist ritual) doesn’t seem to totally accord with what he claimed to believe near the end of his life, but that is of course very human and again reflects the lives of so many of us.
I believe if you read this book closely, it will haunt you. But perhaps I will lay that ghost by writing this review!
I feel this book belongs to the genre of ‘Cultural Criticism’ because what the author has to say about Bowie applies equally to the culture and spirit of the 1960s and 1970s. Bowie was a product of that culture, and an iconoclast against it. One of Bowie’s many public personas was that of a performance artist who during his life adopted many different masks which accentuated our unending journey in search of our own authentic self. He also reflected the diverse spiritual obsessions of those decades; and my initial interest in this topic, when I first read the author’s preliminary articles on Substack, was a feeling that I identified with some specifics of Bowie’s spiritual search (but certainly not all of it!)
This author handles the subject with acute intelligence and originality, often highlighting new connections that surprise the reader.
Bowie’s journey is poignant and fascinating to me for many reasons but one is that he spent several years of his early life in Bromley which I know well and is very near where I was born and brought up. I too emerged disenchanted and unsatisfied with the C of E and in my early 20s was drawn to Buddhism just like Bowie. Even the first words spoken to, and misunderstood by, Bowie: ‘You are looking for me’, seem to carry the same meaning as the words I heard at a Buddhist retreat: ‘If you’ve been searching all your life and not found what you’re looking for you’ve come to the right place’.
The fact that Bowie wove his tumultuous journey into every part of his prolific creative output is inspirational. Ormerod’s assessment of Bowie’s lyrics throughout the book is astonishingly meticulous and insightful as is to be expected of a gifted arts critic.
I find the end of the book very sad and moving with its description of Bowie’s final months and days and also in that his last creative work was ‘Lazarus’, where the image of him with bandaged face and button eyes is so disturbing. It would be nice to think Bowie finally reached a clear and stable position in regard to his beliefs, but of course, life is not like that. Even his choice of how to mark the scattering of his ashes (in his case a Buddhist ritual) doesn’t seem to totally accord with what he claimed to believe near the end of his life, but that is of course very human and again reflects the lives of so many of us.
I believe if you read this book closely, it will haunt you. But perhaps I will lay that ghost by writing this review!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is literature and be ready, you have to be a fan of David Bowie’s to read this book! I thought it was a terrific read! And I loved it! Growing up in the 1970’s, new David Bowie songs showed up on the radio every six months. For a period of four to five years, he released a number of very different records. When he moved from LA to Berlin, his music took a vast change and he became more mainstream and more popular. What’s most interesting about this book is the author has brought up Bowie’s preoccupation with religion and spirituality in all its many forms. Who knew that his upbringing in the episcopal church would lead to his enlightenment in spirituality. This is a serious read, I read a chapter a day and I found myself backtracking into the previous chapter as I finished the book. Highly recommended but hard to read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the eARC!
From the very start of this book, Ormerod's esteem of and love for Bowie is clear. As a tangential Bowie fan (mostly because I haven't taken the time to listen to much of his music), but someone who still finds him a powerful figure, I was overwhelmed in places by this book. I think die-hard fans will LOVE this book, but if you aren't very familiar with his discography, you'll likely struggle with this book. It may be worth pulling up the songs and albums Ormerod discusses to ground yourself.
From the very start of this book, Ormerod's esteem of and love for Bowie is clear. As a tangential Bowie fan (mostly because I haven't taken the time to listen to much of his music), but someone who still finds him a powerful figure, I was overwhelmed in places by this book. I think die-hard fans will LOVE this book, but if you aren't very familiar with his discography, you'll likely struggle with this book. It may be worth pulling up the songs and albums Ormerod discusses to ground yourself.
January 20, 2026
Bowie
Likely an odd first biography to read on Bowie given the focus on his religious forays, albeit ones that never seemed to take hold for long and simply put him in the general category of seeker. It somewhat diminished the man as it unintentionally could not but help to expose flaws, but still overall it was still one that I found to be engaging. The track by track review was perhaps also a bit much - the author wrapped it up in a somewhat moving final section covering Blackstar and final thoughts on the artist.
Likely an odd first biography to read on Bowie given the focus on his religious forays, albeit ones that never seemed to take hold for long and simply put him in the general category of seeker. It somewhat diminished the man as it unintentionally could not but help to expose flaws, but still overall it was still one that I found to be engaging. The track by track review was perhaps also a bit much - the author wrapped it up in a somewhat moving final section covering Blackstar and final thoughts on the artist.
November 11, 2025
This is another one of those masters theses disguised as a biography, so it's very academic. But it is also very insightful. Those who are very familiar with Bowie's entire catalog will find insights they hadn't considered, and none of the author's well-informed theories seem outlandish. It won't be for everyone, but it should keep the reader going back to those albums. (advance proof provided by NetGalley)
February 7, 2026
Fantastic! As a Religious Studies graduate, Baptist minister, and owner of all the (solo) albums, this was right up my street.
Really thorough and intelligent, I learnt lots and was even pointed to some Bowie material I wasn't aware of before.
Really thorough and intelligent, I learnt lots and was even pointed to some Bowie material I wasn't aware of before.
February 12, 2026
Great analysis. Not really a biography, but that is ok since there are multiple biographies in the market. this book is focused on Bowie's art and the at times spiritual journey he was on throughout his life.
January 21, 2026
3.5 stars
February 20, 2026
Superb!
Initially, I thought it might be another Bowie biography, but stay with it...
It explores Bowie's spiritual searches. I learnt a lot...
Initially, I thought it might be another Bowie biography, but stay with it...
It explores Bowie's spiritual searches. I learnt a lot...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews