Ziggy Stardust: 50 years of Bowie's alien revolution

Ban Ziggy

Why?

Musical theatre was his biggest influence of all, and its odd the writers don't mention this. Listen to his the songs from that era, and they sound a lot more like they are from a stage production than rock/pop music.

Haaa, because of the Z LOL,I liked his music

Haaa, because of the Z LOL,I liked his music

Didn't realize anybody was banned from using Z in their name?

I started listening to David Bowie because of Major Tom, not Ziggy Stardust.

It was much later that I realised that some of the Major Tom songs were more about David Bowie’s experiences with drugs and addiction.

Bowie is a legend but he was a weird guy. Not because of being gay or not. He was just weird. Guess that’s why he and Freddie Mercury were such good pals.

Anybody who is bisexual has my vote, they understand both sides. Have visited his place in Kyoto, unfortunately after...

Hey man!

Actually had a dream a couple of weeks ago I was laying down in a park with lots of others scattered around and a small sterio 40 feet away jamming “Hey Man! my school days insane” Look behind me and there’s Ziggy. It was a strange one.

So many songs I love on Ziggy (5 years, moonage daydream, R n R suicide), but Modern Love was when I started really listening to him. Saw the tour too.

Another great album from 72, one of the best years for music.

I certainly didn't like or approve of his lifestyle but I loved his music, especially The Lodger 1979. Robert Fripp's guitar was incredible on Red Sails (about Japan) and Look Back in Anger. RIP Bowie.

David Bowie is a chameleon. He started out as a folk rocker and before that the band he was in scored a hit with a Who rip-off. Even with 'Space Oddity' he explored sci-fy themes and with Ziggy Stardust he simply combined that aesthetic with the glam rock a la Roxy Music and the even more androgynous New York Dolls. And for Ziggy's bi/pan/asexuality, that's been featured in sci-fy novels long before 1972. There may very well be such planets populated by asexual people like Ziggy. If that makes him a GLBT icon, then so be it. Everyone needs their heroes.

But Bowie practically led the way to the rock'n'roll future. Not just in fashion but sound as well as vision. Whichever persona or style he toyed with, Bowie always followed one rule: Don't stand still.

He wasn't just one of the defining artists of his generation but of all time, just like Prince who passed away a few months after Bowie did. 2016 was such a rotten year.