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November 11th, 2026 · 4:57pm GMT
Few fictional beings have been able to boast the same command over the airwaves as Ziggy Stardust; the glam rock extraterrestrial brought to life by David Bowie at the beginning of his soon-to-be extensive career as a shapeshifting songwriter. Even a mind as expansive as Bowie’s couldn’t pluck such a character entirely from thin air, however.
With his own theme, ‘Ziggy Stardust’ – recorded 55 years ago within the hallowed recording booths of London’s Trident Studios – Bowie’s alien alter-ego immediately identified himself as a musical revolutionary. Switching the kitsch novelty atmosphere of the Brixton-born songwriter’s earlier work for a far more cutting-edge, right-on streak of glam rock immediacy, that landmark track might not have been the biggest hit to come from The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, but it did encircle all the influences that went into its titular character.
Going right back to his early outings in the mid-1960s, Bowie had always been a theatrical performer, but for Ziggy Stardust’s glam rock revolution, the songwriter drew more from the world of rock and roll than stage and screen – or, indeed, outer space.
Primarily, the inspiration for the sight and sound of ‘Ziggy Stardust’ came from two often-overlooked, relatively obscure figures within the musical realm: Vince Taylor and Norman Carl Odam – better known as Legendary Stardust Cowboy, the name of whom immediately reveals a core part of Ziggy’s inspiration.
The artists behind David Bowie’s rock collage ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 