David Bowie's ex-wife, Angie, still maintains Georgia ties

[Updated Jan. 12: Angie Bowie responds to David Bowie's death.]

BY MELISSA RUGGIERI

David Bowie was long-regarded as a Londoner and New Yorker, but his first wife, Angie, still maintains a presence in Georgia.

The couple married in March 1970 and divorced a decade later. Angie and David Bowie have a son, 44-year-old film director Duncan Jones (who was called by his middle name, Zowie, as a child).

In the ‘80s, Angie (nee Mary Angelea Barnett) moved to Atlanta, where she was described by the AJC in a 1990 story as a “low-profile performance artist.”

According to the Daily Mail, which a few days ago published a lengthy profile of Angie because of her involvement on the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality show in England, she and her partner of 23 years, electrical engineer Michael Gassett, currently live in Acworth.

The relationship between David and Angie maintained a steady level of acrimony in the decades since their divorce.

“He hates me,” Angie, 66, told her fellow “Big Brother” contestants about why she hadn’t spoken to David in nearly 40 years. A story on Monday confirmed that Angie was notified of David’s death off camera.

The Daily Mail profile also noted that Jones does not speak to his mother.

In happier days, David wrote the songs “The Prettiest Star,” “Golden Years” and “Cracked Actor” about his then-wife, whom he met when she was a 19-year-old student in London.

In 1993, Angie wrote the bestseller, “Backstage Passes – Life on the Wild Side with David Bowie,” in which she revealed that she once found David in bed with Mick Jagger.

The iconic Bowie died on Sunday, two days after his 69th birthday. According to the Dutch News , he was suffering from liver cancer.

Follow the AJC Music Scene on Facebook and Twitter.