Another performer who helped define the glam rock genre was David Bowie. After first coming to prominence in 1969 with his hit “Space Oddity,” Bowie would go on to personify the fashion, musical style and lifestyle of glam rock. This is best evidenced by the creation of Bowie's alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust.
Ziggy Stardust was just about as far from being a hippie, or Elvis himself, as one could get. He featured as the main character in Bowie's seminal album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. His gender-bending appearance and space age persona was coupled with equally ambiguous lyrical content as, through Bowie's pen, he pondered the dystopic vision of Earth's impending doom in the track “Five Years” whilst elsewhere on the album sounding positively hopefully on tracks like “Starman.”
Bowie's legendary lifestyle during the early-to-mid 70s helped lead the way for legions of glitter kids. Cocaine, fun with boys and girls, and sheer Britishness gave fans an identity to which, for better or worse, they could aspire.
David Bowie would go on to establish himself as one of the great British glam rock artists of the latter-20th century.
Ziggy Stardust was just about as far from being a hippie, or Elvis himself, as one could get. He featured as the main character in Bowie's seminal album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. His gender-bending appearance and space age persona was coupled with equally ambiguous lyrical content as, through Bowie's pen, he pondered the dystopic vision of Earth's impending doom in the track “Five Years” whilst elsewhere on the album sounding positively hopefully on tracks like “Starman.”
Bowie's legendary lifestyle during the early-to-mid 70s helped lead the way for legions of glitter kids. Cocaine, fun with boys and girls, and sheer Britishness gave fans an identity to which, for better or worse, they could aspire.
David Bowie would go on to establish himself as one of the great British glam rock artists of the latter-20th century.