HER dad was a music icon who kickstarted the glam rock era and inspired a generation of artists.
But David Bowie’s daughter, Lexi Jones, is determined to forge her own path — as she launches a singing career.
The 24-year-old has hit out at claims that her debut album, Xandri, released this week, is an attempt to replicate her chart-star father’s success and standing in the business.
Taking to Instagram, Lexi posted an emotional response — written as a poem — to the comparisons being drawn between them.
Under the title, ‘David Bowie’s Daughter, that gets your attention, ay?’, she insisted: “I’m the daughter of a legend, but I’m more than just his name.
“They see the blood, they hear the sound, yet fail to see me, don’t feel the same.”
She continued: “They compare me to his heights, like I’m supposed to reach his light. But I’m not here to chase what’s already been done. By loving what I do, I feel I’ve already won.”
Adding that she’s “not a copy, not a shadow”, Lexi — who took issue with people saying her voice and sound resembled David’s — concluded: “I’m not trying to fill his shoes. I’m just trying to find my own peace.”
Lexi’s powerful statement clearly resonated with fellow nepo babies, actress Liv Tyler — whose dad is Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler — and singer Violet Grohl, daughter of Foo Fighters’ David Grohl, who both liked the post.
Singer and visual artist Lexi — who wrote, sang and produced all 12 songs on her new LP, plus designed the album artwork — is clearly determined to do things her way.
Yet there is no denying the influence her late dad has had on her, and the huge hole he left in her heart.
David died in January 2016 from pancreatic and liver cancer, leaving behind his wife, supermodel Iman, their only daughter Lexi, who was just 15 at the time, and his older son Duncan Jones, now 53, from his first marriage to Angie Bowie.
Lexi has since reflected on the mental health struggles she faced in the aftermath.
Marking Mental Health Awareness Month — and also the eighth anniversary of her superstar dad’s death — in January last year she told her followers: “Situating myself in situations that contributed to the already crumbling foundation of my family eventually led to lonely isolation, unexpected fatalities of loved ones and even ones I’ve nearly had myself.”
Hinting at unspecified substance abuse, she added: “I confused living life with surviving life’s days by filling my body’s bottomless void, drowning myself in toxins and poison.”
Along the way, she said, she had “hurt the ones I love the most with hateful words to make them feel at least a bit of the pain I went through every day”.
‘Cultural juggernauts’
And she revealed she had “labelled myself as a psychopath” to avoid having to face “introspection”.
Ending on a positive message, she said: “I learned to forgive myself for all I have done, never dwelling on my past, for it is something I can never change.
“Though learning to find contentment in accepting what is out of my control, I just remind myself of that little girl I used to be.”
Lexi has since said that art has been a “coping mechanism” for her in times of darkness.
It is no surprise that she has struggled to find contentment in her identity, despite the privileges that come with being a nepo baby. Living in the shadow of two celebrity juggernauts can be a heavy weight to bear.
Born in Somalia in 1955, Iman, now 69, rose to fame at a time when few black models graced the runways and covers of fashion mags.
Yet she climbed the ranks, becoming a muse to designers including Gianni Versace and Calvin Klein, and inspiring up-and-coming stars such as Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks.
When she and David met in 1990, they were both at the height of their fame and fortune, and both craved the one thing they could not buy — privacy.
David, in particular, was notoriously keen to escape the glare of public life, famously letting his alter egos, including Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke, occupy the limelight instead.
He and Iman married in a private ceremony in Switzerland in 1992, and Lexi, whose real name is Alexandria Zahra Jones, was born eight years later.
I really don’t want to cast a dark shadow over her future, subtly or psychologically.
David Bowie
They then focused on living as normal a life as possible, splitting their time between their homes in New York, London, Sydney and Mustique, in the Caribbean.
In 2000 the couple posed with their newborn daughter for a cover story with Hello! — for what, they said, would be her “first and last interview”.
In it, David showed early signs of parental pride, beaming: “Not to brag . . . but she never cries unless there is something absolutely crucial that must be attended to.
“Other than that, she doesn’t seem to have any complaints.
“It’s all whine and dine, with spit-ups as cabaret.” Both Iman and David also said they now felt “complete” and more united than ever.
David said: “We’ve always been very close, but if it’s possible, we’ve been drawn even closer.
“Overnight, our lives have been enriched beyond belief.”
He added: “It’s amazing how a new child can refocus one’s direction seconds after its birth.
“Everything falls into a feeling of ‘rightness’. I have huge waves of parental love and protection pouring from me.”
In 2003 David spoke about the positive impact his girl had made on his life and creative process, revealing: “Since the birth of my daughter, I tend to write aggressively from a more optimistic standpoint, even if the subject matter is kind of dark.”
In a sad case of foreshadowing, he added: “I really don’t want to cast a dark shadow over her future, subtly or psychologically.
‘Very private life’
“It really behoves me to be more positive about things than I might have been before she was born.”
For a while, though well known, the family were able to keep their private lives private.
It was only when David died nine years ago aged 69 that his grieving family suddenly found themselves in the eye of the storm.
In January 2023 Iman told Vogue: “It was too much. Too much.
“We lived a very private life and suddenly it felt like there was a target on mine and my daughter’s head.
“It got to the point where we had to leave our home [in New York City] because the public were always at the front door — which I admire. I get it.
“But there was a point where it was like, ‘OK, go home now’.
“You had people who would take your picture, sell it and then come to you and say, ‘I feel your pain’.
“And I’m like, ‘No, bitch, you don’t feel my pain — get away from me’.”
While Lexi was a child, Iman tried to keep her out of the limelight, declining offers for her to model professionally while she was still a teen and arguing she was only getting asked because she was “David Bowie’s daughter”.
She did not want her little girl being defined in those terms — a feeling that Lexi has expressed just as strongly.
But that’s not to say the budding star is willing to distance herself from her beloved dad completely.
She recently posted a throwback snap of them together, captioned “Papa”, and called him her “forever sunshine” in an old clip of them dancing together. She has also shared previously unseen videos of their happy home life.
Lexi’s point is that, while she misses her dad, she is not prepared to live in his shadow or be defined as a mini Bowie. She demands to be judged as an independent person whose parentage is irrelevant.
Ironically, it’s this rebellious and visionary spirit that defines her as her father’s daughter.
And it’s probably the thing he would be most proud of.
