Which rock and roll singer shared David Bowie's January 8 birthday?

The rock and roll singer who shared David Bowie’s January 8 birthday was Elvis Presley.

Bowie was born on January 8, 1947, in Brixton, London, while Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. They were born twelve years apart but shared a date that linked two of rock music’s most influential figures.

The connection is especially fitting because Presley was an important early influence on Bowie. As a teenager, Bowie absorbed American rock and roll alongside rhythm and blues, and he later recalled wanting to become “the British Elvis.” Presley’s music, image and cultural impact helped shape the musical world in which Bowie developed.

They were not simply similar performers: Presley became a defining figure of 1950s rockabilly and rock and roll, while Bowie built a career around reinvention across glam rock, soul, electronic music and art rock. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly were also major rock pioneers, but none shared Bowie’s January 8 birth date.