Bowie and Iman met for the first time at a dinner party in 1990. Iman had just retired from modeling and was introduced to her future husband by her hairdresser. Bowie stated emphatically that it was indeed love at first sight. He said his attraction to her was “immediate and all-encompassing,” and that he couldn’t sleep due to the anticipation of their first date.
For Bowie, getting married was a done deal. Iman happened to have a strong impact on the otherwise smooth Bowie. According to Iman, the singer told her he was so nervous when, after the first date, he asked her to have “tea” with him. “He doesn’t drink tea; he never drinks tea. He had coffee,” Iman later recalled of their first date.
His Big Mistake
To add to the confusion, Bowie told 'Rolling Stone' in 1983, that his public declaration of bisexuality turned out to be “the biggest mistake I ever made.” Bowie then appended that he was always a “closet heterosexual.”
Bowie stated that he had no issue with people thinking that he was bisexual. But he also didn’t want to hold any flags or be a representative for other groups. All he wanted was to be a songwriter and musician – he didn’t appreciate being pigeonholed into a category.
A Marriage of Convenience
Mary Angela Barnett described their marriage as convenient. She said that they got married in order for her to be able to secure a work permit. She also acknowledged the fact she didn’t believe it would last. Apparently, Bowie told Barnett before they got married, “I’m not really in love with you.”
Bowie said that living with Barnett was “like living with a blow torch.” In 1971, they had a son together. The couple named him Duncan, but he was more commonly known as Zowie. In 1980, when Bowie and Barnett divorced, he gained custody of Duncan. Barnett went on to write a memoir called "Backstage Passes: Life on the Wild Side With David Bowie," in which she described their tumultuous marriage.
Actions That Speak Louder Than Words
Within a couple of weeks, Iman and Bowie were in a serious relationship. She said that his actions spoke louder than words. Iman described the time she arrived at the Los Angeles airport. The doors opened, she came out of the plane, and all these people were taking photos of him, he was just standing there, greeting her with flowers in hand, without any security.
She knew then that he was a keeper, and they got married two years after their first date. Their first public appearance was at an AIDS benefit in 1990. Iman was still hesitant, though, about getting married to a rockstar. In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, she said that she “fell in love with David Jones. I did not fall for David Bowie, that's just his persona."
Staying Private
The two wanted their relationship to be kept as private as they could. The way they saw it, their marriage was personal and only to be shared with each other – not for the general public. Aside from the rare public happenings, the couple kept the papers and their private lives separate.
One of the only times they were photographed together as a couple was in a Vogue magazine shoot, after their daughter, Alexandria (nicknamed Lexi) was born in 2000. When it came to parenting, Iman said Bowie was “contained, sensible” but also “relaxed and fun.” She, on the other hand, is the disciplinarian. Sweetly, even after 20 years of marriage, Iman told Bazaar that she was still fascinated with her husband.