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.
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.
“I was massively geeky,” he toldThe Guardianin 2009.
I didn’t do anything."
Despite having a front-row seat to his father’s music career, Jones never caught the musical bug.
“Of course, I greatly regret it now,” he confessed.
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 (viaInstagram).
Ghosts of Christmas past."
However, to his son Duncan Jones, the pop legend was simply “Dad.”
Speaking withThe New York Timesin 2009, Jones confessed, “My upbringing was pretty weird, anyway.”
“In many ways it was an incredible childhood,” Jones recalled to theDaily Mailin 2011.
“We traveled all over the world and we got to do some amazing things.”
In 1992,Bowie married his second wife, supermodel Iman.
He added, “But he’s very supportive and always has been.
However, for the superstar’s son Duncan Jones, fame was anything but pleasant.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the filmmaker revealed that Bowie worked hard to protect his son’s privacy.
Still, the constant attention weighed heavily on Jones.
“It obviously affected me.”
After graduating high school, Jones studied philosophy at a rural college in Ohio.
Later, he dropped out of a PhD program at Vanderbilt University.
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.
Nonetheless, the celebrity progeny was intent on proving that he had more to offer than his famous lineage.
On January 10, 2016, the filmmaker was devastated by the death of his father David Bowie.
OnX, 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.
Amid his grief, Jones took comfort in his father’s enduring legacy.
In a heartfeltsocial 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.”
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.
Both parents struggled with drug and alcohol misuse, which fueled their frequent and volatile arguments.
“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.
“What upset me is how powerful and personal it is,” she told the Daily Mail.
Jones announced his nuptials and Ronquillo’s diagnosis in a series of posts onX.
“So cancer, election, marriage.
All on one day!”
Over the following months, Ronquillo underwent a double mastectomy and aggressive chemotherapy.
Their daughter Zowie Tala Mabsie Jones came along in April 2018. the proud dad wrote.
“Both @rodeneronquillo and her big, beautiful baby girl are doing amazing!”
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 onX.
“I’ll tell you something I never see anyone admit… they are exhausting, frustrating & life-destabilizing.
They are rarely fun.
