Album release: Earthling

Earthling, David Bowie’s follow-up to 1995’s 1.Outside, was released on 3 February 1997. It was Bowie’s first self-produced album since 1974’s Diamond Dogs, and continued his exploration of industrial and electronic music.

The album received broadly positive reviews, with Rolling Stone predictably calling it “his best since 1980’s Scary Monsters.” At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Earthling was nominated for Best Alternative Music Performance, while ‘Dead Man Walking’ was nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

Earthling became a top ten hit in Belgium, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number six. In the US it only reached number 39 in the Billboard 200.

‘Telling Lies’ and ‘Little Wonder’ were released prior to the album, and were followed by the singles ‘Dead Man Walking’, ‘Seven Years In Tibet’, and ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans’.