Ziggy Stardust

by Richard Smith

Published 29 June 2003
Ziggy Stardust was pop music's Stonewall riot. He transformed what it was possible to do within music. He changed countless peoples' lives. He took queer aesthetics--from Oscar Wilde's to Andy Warhol's--into the mainstream. He gave birth to at least one movement: glam rock. He was David Bowie's greatest moment. He was a serial collaborationist, working with and feeding from Ken Pitt, Marc Bolan, Lindsay Kemp, Angic Bowie and Lou Redd. His influence is all around us: Morrissey, The Pet Shop Boys, Velvet Goldmine. He was a man who changed the world. He didn't exist. This is his biography.