Bowie mourns mother's death

Bowie resumed contact with his mother after he married Iman

Pop legend David Bowie is in mourning after the death of his mother.

Peggy Jones, who was in her late 80s, is understood to have died at a nursing home in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Bowie's spokesman Alan Edwards said: "I can confirm it is sadly true. It's just come out of the blue."

Bowie was in the US when he heard the news.

The singer lost touch with his mother after his massive success in the early seventies.

However he resumed contact with her after he married his second wife, model and actress Iman, in 1992.

Name change

Bowie was born David Robert Jones in January 1947 in Brixton, south London.

Peggy married his father John, a promotions officer at Dr Barnardo's, eight months later.

Bowie's father died in August 1969 from pneumonia, shortly before Space Oddity became a hit.

Rising star David adopted the name Bowie to avoid confusion with The Monkees' singer Davy Jones.

With on-stage personas such as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke, Bowie built up a reputation as one of rock music's most innovative performers.

In recent years, his fascination with new technology saw him become one of the first performers to make use of the internet.

He has launched his own internet service provider and online bank.

Bowie became a father for the second time in August 2000 when Iman gave birth to daughter Alexandria Zahra.