Dana Gillespie

Career Gillespie began a personal and professional relationship with the singer David Bowie in 1964 when he was 17 and she was 14. Their relationship lasted a decade; Bowie wrote the song "Andy Warhol" for her, Gillespie sang backing vocals on Ziggy Stardust (1972), and Bowie and Mick Ronson produced her 1973 album Weren't Born a Man. Bowie ended contact with Gillespie following his split from his first wife Angie Bowie. Gillespie looked back on her time with David Bowie fondly.

Gillespie recorded initially in the folk genre in the mid-1960s. Some of her recordings as a teenager fell into the teen pop category, such as her 1965 single "Thank You Boy", written by John Carter and Ken Lewis and produced by Jimmy Page. Page also played, uncredited, on Gillespie's 1968 debut LP, Foolish Seasons.

She performed backing vocals on the track "It Ain't Easy" from Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Her version of "Andy Warhol" was not released until 1973, on her album Weren't Born a Man, which was produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson. Her version also featured Ronson on guitar. She performed at his Indian ashram on various occasions and has also recorded thirteen bhajan-based albums in Sanskrit.

Gillespie is the organiser of the annual blues festival at Basil's Bar on Mustique in the Caribbean, for 15 days at the end of January and it is now in its 18th year. She was ultimately selected for the final.

In August 2024, she was interviewed by The Times, where she described her life, her relationship with David Bowie and her South Kensington home, where she has lived all her life.

Selected discography

Foolish Seasons (London, PS 540, October 1968) Box of Surprises (Decca, SKL 5012, 1969) Jesus Christ Superstar (Original London Cast Recording) (MCA, 1973) Weren't Born a Man (RCA, 1973) Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle (RCA, 1974) Mojo Blues Band and the Rockin' Boogie Flu (Bellaphon, 1981) Blue Job (Ace, 1982) Solid Romance (Bellaphon, 1984) Below the Belt (Ace, 1984) It Belongs to Me (Bellaphon, 1985) I'm a Woman (The Blues Line) (Bellaphon, 1986) Move Your Body Close to Me (Bellaphon, 1986) Hot News (Gig, 1987) Sweet Meat (Blue Horizons, 1989) Amor (Gig, 1989) Blues It Up (Ace, 1990) Left Hand Roller with Pewny Michael, (Bellaphon Records and Susy Records, 1990) Where Blue Begins (Ariola, 1991) Boogie Woogie Nights (with Joachim Palden) (Wolf, 1991) Big Boy (with Joachim Palden) (Wolf, 1992) Methods of Release (Bellaphon, 1993)

Andy Warhol (Trident, 1994) Blue One (Wolf, 1994) Hot Stuff (Ace, 1995) Have I Got Blues For You (Wolf, 1996) Mustique Blues Festival (yearly since 1996) Cherry Pie (with Big Jay McNeely) (Big Jay Records, 1997) One to One, Inner View, Dream On (under the pseudonym of Third Man) (1998) Back to the Blues (Wolf, 1998) Experienced (Ace, 2000) Staying Power (Ace, 2003) Sing Out (with Shanthi Sisters) (2004) Sacred Space (2005) Live (with the London Blues Band) (Ace, 2007) Eternally Yours (2009) Mata Mata (2011) I Rest My Case (Ace, 2013) Cats Meow (Ace, 2014) Dana Gillespie meets Al Cook – Take It Off Slowly (Wolf, 2018) Under My Bed (Ace, 2019) Deep Pockets (Ace, 2021) First Love (Fretsore Records, 2024)

Filmography

Fumo di Londra (1966) Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1966) - Singer The Vengeance of She (1968) - Girl at Party (uncredited) The Lost Continent (1968) - Sarah Mahler (1974) - Anna von Mildenburg The People That Time Forgot (1977) - Ajor The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978) - Mary Frankland Bad Timing (1980) - Amy Miller Scrubbers (1982) - Budd Parker (1986) - Monika Sterben werd ich um zu leben - Gustav Mahler (1987) - Anna von Mildenburg Strapless (1989) - Julie Kovago Sunday Pursuit (1990) - Maureen (final film role) David Bowie: Finding Fame (2019) – appeared as herself Hotel India (2014) - Herself