Coordinates: 51°24′28″N 0°01′19″W / 51.4077°N 0.0220°W / 51.4077; -0.0220

Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is located 8.4 miles (13.5 km) south east of Charing Cross and 1.75 miles (2.8 km) west of Bromley town. Until the coming of the railway in 1857, Beckenham was a small village in the county of Kent with almost completely rural surroundings: once a family of entrepreneurs began the building of villas here, its population soared from 2000 to 26,000 during 1850-1900 and throughout the rest of the century. The current population is nearly 82,000 Today it is very much in London suburbia, although some of the grand houses of the early days remain.

The settlement is referred to as Bacheham in the Domesday Book of 1086, and in the Textus Roffensis as Becceham. The name is thought to derive from Beohha's homestead (Beohhan + ham in Old English). The name of the small stream here - the River Beck - is most likely to have been named after the village.

Population is now 82,300

David Bowie ( /ˈboʊ.i/ BOH-ee; born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. He is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth and eclecticism of his work.

Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture." The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.