Bowie80 to mark David Bowie's 80th birthday with concerts, exhibits and shops

David Bowie's 80th birthday will be marked by a months-long global celebration called Bowie80, with events, releases and collaborations starting in November.

The programme marks what would have been Bowie's 80th birthday in 2027, according to NME. His birthday falls on 8 January. The official David Bowie website published a press release about the celebration on 5 October 2026.

Bowie80 is described as a worldwide series of special events, releases, collaborations and more. The first dates will begin in November, Variety reported. It brings together exhibits, fan experiences, merchandise and concerts.

In the United States, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will present Bowie-dedicated experiences from mid-November, Rolling Stone reported. A Bowie80 pop-up shop will run from mid-November to January 2027 in two places: the museum store and its store at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Shoppers will find celebration merchandise alongside the museum's usual stock.

The Hall's birthday-week plans land in early January. It will host educational presentations, trivia sessions, music and photo opportunities for visitors. That week coincides with Bowie's birthday on 8 January.

Photography is a large part of the celebration. The Rock Hall will also display a Bowie photography exhibit featuring never-before-seen images. A date for that display is still to be announced.

Separately, the Morrison Hotel Gallery will open Strange Fascination, a Bowie photo exhibit, in Los Angeles and New York City in February 2027. Presented in collaboration with Bowie's estate, the body that manages his name, image and catalogue, it brings together photographs spanning six of his best-known stage identities. The gallery works with music photographers and sells fine-art prints, meaning these are exhibition-quality images made for display.

On stage, composer Philip Glass will lead Bowie (Breaking) Glass, a symphonic concert tribute to Bowie's songs. The production is staged in partnership with Schirmer Theatrical and Østre Gasværk Teater, a Copenhagen theatre. It will premiere in Copenhagen in spring 2027.

Retail is part of the plan too. Nordstrom, the American department store chain, is working with luxury brands on clothing capsules honouring Bowie's looks. They will be sold in flagship stores in New York, Chicago and Seattle, and online.

In Britain, the show David Bowie: You're Not Alone will open in December at Aviva Studios in Manchester. That venue is the city’s large arts space for performance and exhibitions.

For fans, this means a staggered calendar rather than a single birthday night. Cleveland in November and January, Los Angeles and New York in February, Manchester in December, then Copenhagen in the spring.