Meet David Bowie's Son Duncan

In the spring of 1971, David Bowie had fans buzzing when he welcomed his first child Duncan Jones with his then-wife Angie Bowie. Soon after his birth, the international pop icon released the first photos of his son. One snapshot featured Bowie cradling the adorable infant while flashing his signature piercing gaze at the camera. From that moment on, the public was obsessed with little Duncan, whom his parents affectionately nicknamed "Zowie Bowie." 

Throughout the years, Jones and his dad would be seen together regularly; Bowie headlining concerts and attending glamorous events with his young son in tow. For the most part, Bowie kept mum about his private life — however, his relationship with Jones was clearly one for the history books. In a 2011 interview with The Oklahoman, Jones described his father as "a warm, supportive guy who was always introducing me to things that he felt passionate and interested in."

In 2009, Jones stepped out of his father's gargantuan shadow when he co-wrote and directed the award-winning sci-fi film "Moon." Jones has since made a name for himself in Hollywood, having directed movies like "Source Code," "Warcraft," and "Mute." He may have been born into pop-cultural royalty, but these days, Duncan Jones is an icon in his own right.

As the son of a global pop phenomenon, Duncan Jones had a childhood that was anything but average. For starters, Jones spent a chunk of his youth meandering behind the scenes at his father's concerts. When Bowie made his crossover into film, Jones tagged along and became a fixture on his movie sets. Seeing his father star in movies like "Labyrinth" and "Absolute Beginners" provided the first sparks of inspiration for Jones' future career path as a film director. 

Admittedly, Jones didn't inherit his father's charisma, and he struggled to fit in with Hollywood's upper crust. "I was massively geeky," he told The Guardian in 2009. "I was never the kid who would have been invited to that [celebrity] stuff — I was painfully shy and not comfortable around that crowd. You would never have seen me on any party scene, which is probably what made me able to disappear, in a way, because the tabloids had nothing to follow. I didn't do anything." 

Despite having a front-row seat to his father's music career, Jones never caught the musical bug. Speaking with the Daily Mail in 2012, Jones revealed that Bowie tried persuading him to learn a musical instrument, but he just wasn't interested. "Of course, I greatly regret it now," he confessed. "I'd love to be able to play the guitar or something else but I just don't have the time to learn ..."

Like his rockstar dad, Duncan Jones isn't afraid to embrace ch-ch-changes — and during his youth, his name underwent several changes. Jones was born Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones, but his parents referred to him by his middle name, Zowie. At age 11, Jones ditched the name Zowie and started going by "Joey" instead, wanting to be treated like a normal kid rather than being fawned over for his celebrity status. A few years after switching to Joey, he took the name Joe. At 18, Jones reverted to his given name, Duncan Jones.

Although he no longer goes by Zowie, Jones still holds an affinity for the name. When his daughter was born in 2018, she inherited the unique moniker. In December 2018, Jones shared a touching epiphany about his childhood nickname on X (formerly Twitter). "Got a bit emotional while wrapping tonight," he wrote (via Instagram). "Didn't occur to me till tonight that when i named my daughter Zowie i would eventually be writing 'To Zowie, from Dad,' exactly like my dad did for me when i was little. Ghosts of Christmas past." 

David Bowie was famous for his myriad artistic personas (all of them leading to different looks), which included the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust, and several others. However, to his son Duncan Jones, the pop legend was simply "Dad." Speaking with The New York Times in 2009, Jones confessed, "My upbringing was pretty weird, anyway." But despite growing up in Bowie's avant-garde world, Jones enjoyed plenty of normal bonding moments with his father. The duo would fill their downtime by playing with action figures and watching the "Star Wars" franchise together. As Jones got older, Bowie supported his son's desire to change his appearance and experiment with hair dye. "In many ways it was an incredible childhood," Jones recalled to the Daily Mail in 2011. "We traveled all over the world and we got to do some amazing things." 

In 1992, Bowie married his second wife, supermodel Iman. The pair settled down in New York City and eventually welcomed their daughter (Jones' half-sister) Alexandria "Lexie" Jones. At that point, Jones was in his 30s and living in Hollywood — but despite the distance between them, the father and son maintained their unbreakable bond. "We Skype every weekend and whenever I get the chance to go to New York we meet up," Jones told the Daily Mail. He added, "But he's very supportive and always has been. He's just a wonderful guy and father and I think he understands that I'm a creative person in my own right."

Prior to becoming an international sensation, David Bowie was a young artist living in London and chasing the spotlight. However, that all changed starting in the late '60s when the icon released a string of hits and skyrocketed to fame. After landing amongst the stars, Bowie thrived in the public eye: In addition to his adoring fan base, Bowie's inner circle included fellow legends like John Lennon and Tina Turner. However, for the superstar's son Duncan Jones, fame was anything but pleasant. Thanks to his illustrious genes, Jones was born a public figure — the only problem was that he abhorred the limelight.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the filmmaker revealed that Bowie worked hard to protect his son's privacy. "Every night when we'd leave a concert I can remember the big hullabaloo — security guards and me being whisked into the car before my dad came out separately so that they couldn't get a picture of us together," Jones recalled. "The woman who was looking after me would have her arms wrapped around my head so that they couldn't get my picture." Still, the constant attention weighed heavily on Jones. "It was a big event just to get in the car and go home at the end of the day," the filmmaker confessed. "It obviously affected me." 

Given his elite parentage, one might assume that Duncan Jones would've turned out to be a rockstar or a pioneering artist — however, that's not exactly how things played out. After graduating high school, Jones studied philosophy at a rural college in Ohio. Later, he dropped out of a PhD program at Vanderbilt University. "I was angry and frustrated when I was younger and didn't know my place in the world," Jones confessed to The Guardian. Finally, he did a bit of soul searching and decided to pursue his true passion: film. After graduating from the London Film School in 2001, Jones made several commercials and a short film. In 2009, Jones made his breakthrough with his debut film "Moon." 

The film opened the door for him to create several more fantasy and sci-fi movies. In his interview with the Daily Mail, Jones said he was determined to find success and distinguish himself professionally from his legendary dad. "I've certainly never used my father's name as a way of getting a meeting," he confirmed. "And fortunately, I've never needed to ..." Looking back, the filmmaker harbored no regrets about the timeline of his career. "I'm glad I've waited until now, to be honest," he told The New York Times in 2009. "I was a bit of a delicate flower growing up and I think it could have damaged me if I tried to do it any younger."

As the son of David Bowie, Duncan Jones has always had an incredible claim to fame. Nonetheless, the celebrity progeny was intent on proving that he had more to offer than his famous lineage. In 2009, Jones did exactly that when he co-wrote and directed the award-winning sci-fi thriller that was "Moon."

While chatting with MovieWeb in 2010, the filmmaker dished about his influences for the film, which included "Silent Running," "Alien," and other sci-fi classics. "... You had these very blue collar guys and women that were put into these unique alien environments," he shared. "And we thought, 'Those films were about people but they were science fiction films,' and we thought, 'That's the kind of film we want to make.'" The concept of "Moon" clearly resonated with audiences: In 2010, Duncan scored a BAFTA award for outstanding debut by a British writer, director, or producer.

Speaking with The Guardian in 2009, Jones revealed that Bowie was over the moon about his son's achievement. "It was quite emotional for both of us because he's been waiting for me to get off my a*** and do what it is that I'm going to do with my life," Jones quipped. "At the Q&A afterwards, I thanked him and said that I really appreciated that he gave me the time to work out what I wanted to do, because it's taken me a while." 

Despite being born into fortune and fame, Duncan Jones is no stranger to tragedy. On January 10, 2016, the filmmaker was devastated by the death of his father David Bowie. When reports first emerged that the 69-year-old legend had died from cancer, the news triggered an outpouring of grief that stretched across the globe. Tributes piled up outside Bowie's Manhattan apartment and millions of fans took to social media to honor the fallen icon. On X, a grief-stricken Jones shared a baby photo of himself perched atop Bowie's shoulders. "Very sorry and sad to say it's true," Jones confirmed. "I'll be offline for a while. Love to all."

In 2021, Jones paid tribute to his father on the fifth anniversary of his death. "We are all a little sad, coping individually in our own ways," the filmmaker wrote on X. Amid his grief, Jones took comfort in his father's enduring legacy. "Yes, he's missed," Jones emphasized, "but with so much of 'him' in the work he made, he's clearly still here."

Just over a year after Bowie's death, Jones lost another important figure in his life: his former nanny Marion Skene. In a heartfelt social media post, Jones memorialized the woman who played a crucial role in his upbringing. "Also lost a most incredible woman, Marion Skene, to cancer last week," he wrote. "She raised me. Without her, who knows what kind of a mess I'd be."

David Bowie met Duncan Jones' mother Angela Barnett (better known as Angie Bowie) in 1969. The pair quickly fell in love and stayed together through Bowie's cosmic rise to fame. Their son Duncan Jones was born on May 30, 1971. As Angie told the Daily Mail in 2009, her relationship with David Bowie turned sour just a few years after Jones' birth. Both parents struggled with drug and alcohol misuse, which fueled their frequent and volatile arguments. "David and I were away doing drugs, at first together and then later apart," she recalled. "Marion [Skene, the nanny] effectively became Zowie's mother." When Jones wasn't being shipped off to a nanny, he witnessed explosive fights between his parents. After the couple broke up in 1980, David won full custody of their son. Soon after, Jones ceased all contact with Angie.

When Angie watched Jones' directorial debut, "Moon," she noticed seemingly autobiographical details within the story. "What upset me is how powerful and personal it is," she told the Daily Mail. "It is all about alienation and abandonment, and for the first time I realized how much grief I caused my son by letting him go." Angie expressed a desire to reconnect with her son, but Jones made it clear that he has no intentions of staging a family reunion. "We stopped communicating when I was 13 and it was the right choice then and I'm convinced it's still the right choice now," Jones told the outlet in his 2011 interview. "She's a woman who didn't have a very positive effect on my upbringing so I think it was the right move."  

Duncan Jones married his wife Rodene Ronquillo Jones on November 6, 2012. In addition to being their wedding anniversary, the date holds another significant meaning for the couple: It was also the date that Ronquillo was diagnosed with second-stage breast cancer. Jones announced his nuptials and Ronquillo's diagnosis in a series of posts on X. "We were a little overwhelmed by the news: cancer & Election Day, so decided to make it a set, ran down to the courthouse & got married!" Jones wrote. "So cancer, election, marriage. All on one day!" Over the following months, Ronquillo underwent a double mastectomy and aggressive chemotherapy. In October 2013, the photographer sat down with PopSugar for a joint interview with her best friend, actor Kat Dennings, and revealed that she was finally cancer free (via the Daily Mail): "After my third round of chemo, my scans came back clear."

These days, Jones and Ronquillo appear to have an air-tight marriage. Ronquillo has attended numerous premieres and red-carpet events with her director husband. Following the birth of the couple's first child in 2016, Jones took to social media to sing his wife's praises. "All my love and awe to the incredible @rodeneronquillo who made a human being in her belly," wrote the doting husband. "Warrior woman & every day, my hero." 

Duncan Jones and Rodene Ronquillo welcomed their first child Stenton David Jones in July 2016. Their daughter Zowie Tala Mabsie Jones came along in April 2018. Jones announced Zowie's birth on X by posting a hand-drawn comic featuring a humorous sketch of his wife and their brood. "I am thrilled to announce that the sequel to the hugely popular Stenton Jones, has finally been unleashed upon the globe!" the proud dad wrote. "Both @rodeneronquillo and her big, beautiful baby girl are doing amazing!"

Of course, rearing two small children is no easy feat — and for Jones, fatherhood hasn't always been "hunky dory" (as David Bowie would put it). In 2019, Jones shared some candid thoughts about his parenthood journey. "I have 2 kids. 2 1/2 years & 9 months old respectively," he proclaimed on X. "I'll tell you something I never see anyone admit... they are exhausting, frustrating & life-destabilizing. They are rarely fun. Sure, smiles are great, hugs are lovely, but it's HARD & not obviously a good choice in life." 

Jones' comments sparked a heated online debate. Some social media users were enraged by his words and accused the filmmaker of being a bad father. However, others applauded Jones for keeping it real about the challenges of raising tiny humans. Even The Guardian weighed in on the controversy with the headline, "Moaning is a crucial part of parenting. So give Duncan Jones a break."