Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
👥 [BAND INFO]
Members:
Martin Thielen, Christoph Altenburg, Stefan Piepe
Big In Japan, Blasphemous Rumours, Funkytown and Pop Muzik cover versions are also available on their website!
🎵 [SONG INFO]
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie from his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
The song was recorded at Trident Studios in London in November 1971 with his backing band the Spiders from Mars, comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey.
It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott.
Lyrically, the song is about Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The character was influenced by English singer Vince Taylor, as well as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Kansai Yamamoto. Although Ziggy is introduced earlier on the album, this song is its centrepiece, presenting the rise and fall of the star in a very human-like manner. Musically, it is a glam rock song, like its parent album, and is based around a Ronson guitar riff.
Since its release, "Ziggy Stardust" has received widespread acclaim from music critics, with the majority praising its story, guitar riff and the band's performance.
The song has since been included on lists of Bowie's greatest songs, and by some as one of the greatest songs of all time.
Bowie performed the song frequently on the Ziggy Stardust and 1978 Stage tours, and again during his tours in the 2000s.
The song was covered by the English gothic rock band Bauhaus in 1982; their version peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. While Bowie's original recording was never released as a single, a live version from 1972 was released as a single in France in 1994 to promote the bootleg album Santa Monica '72. The song has since appeared on multiple compilation albums and has been remastered several times, including in 2012 for its 40th anniversary; this remaster was included in the box set Five Years (1969–1973) in 2015.
Release and reception
In the wake of Bowie's death in 2016, the song peaked at number 86 on the Portuguese AFP chart, number 75 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.
Since its release, "Ziggy Stardust" has received widespread acclaim from music critics, with the majority praising its story, guitar riff and the band's performance.
In a review for Ziggy Stardust on release, Richard Cromelin of Rolling Stone praised Bowie's imagery and storytelling, calling it some of his most "adventuresome" up to that point.
Ned Raggett of AllMusic noted the song's restraint compared to other songs on the album: "Rather than being one of the album's quick, stone-cold rockers, it's measured, takes its time, is as acoustic as it is electric." Raggett described the band's performance as "crisp and explosive" praising Ronson's guitar work, believing his riffs and their distortion could "signal ... where rock could go as any of Hendrix's big hits." He also complimented Bowie's vocal performance and called the song a "total classic."
Ultimate Classic Rock ranked "Ziggy Stardust" second on their list of the ten best glam rock songs of the 1970s, behind "20th Century Boy" by T. Rex, which was written by Marc Bolan, one of the influencers of Ziggy Stardust. The same publication, on their list of Bowie's ten best songs, listed "Ziggy Stardust" at number six, praising Ronson's guitar hook, writing, "[it] gives the song as much of its personality as Bowie's lyrics do."
Ultimate Classic Rock placed the song on their list of the top 200 songs of the 1970s, writing that as the centrepiece of Bowie's "greatest album", "in a way, it's also Bowie's story turbocharged through the cosmos, ready for whatever the decade offered him."
Ian Fortnam of Classic Rock ranked every track on the album from worst to best placing the song at number four, praising its storytelling, Ronson's guitar work and Bowie's vocal performance.
In 2018, NME, on their list of Bowie's 40 greatest songs, ranked "Ziggy Stardust" at number 20, calling Ronson's guitar riff one of rock's greatest.
Rolling Stone described the song as "one of rock's earliest, and best, power ballads."
In 2010, the song ranked at number 282 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is one of four of Bowie's songs included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
🔗 [LINKS]
derpferdheissthorst.de
facebook.com/derpferdheissthorst
Available on their site:
derpferdheissthorst.de/c_audio.html
#derpferdheissthorst
#ziggystardust
#acoustic
#davidbowiecover
👥 [BAND INFO]
Members:
Martin Thielen, Christoph Altenburg, Stefan Piepe
Big In Japan, Blasphemous Rumours, Funkytown and Pop Muzik cover versions are also available on their website!
🎵 [SONG INFO]
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie from his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
The song was recorded at Trident Studios in London in November 1971 with his backing band the Spiders from Mars, comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey.
It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott.
Lyrically, the song is about Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The character was influenced by English singer Vince Taylor, as well as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Kansai Yamamoto. Although Ziggy is introduced earlier on the album, this song is its centrepiece, presenting the rise and fall of the star in a very human-like manner. Musically, it is a glam rock song, like its parent album, and is based around a Ronson guitar riff.
Since its release, "Ziggy Stardust" has received widespread acclaim from music critics, with the majority praising its story, guitar riff and the band's performance.
The song has since been included on lists of Bowie's greatest songs, and by some as one of the greatest songs of all time.
Bowie performed the song frequently on the Ziggy Stardust and 1978 Stage tours, and again during his tours in the 2000s.
The song was covered by the English gothic rock band Bauhaus in 1982; their version peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. While Bowie's original recording was never released as a single, a live version from 1972 was released as a single in France in 1994 to promote the bootleg album Santa Monica '72. The song has since appeared on multiple compilation albums and has been remastered several times, including in 2012 for its 40th anniversary; this remaster was included in the box set Five Years (1969–1973) in 2015.
Release and reception
In the wake of Bowie's death in 2016, the song peaked at number 86 on the Portuguese AFP chart, number 75 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and at number 17 on the US Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.
Since its release, "Ziggy Stardust" has received widespread acclaim from music critics, with the majority praising its story, guitar riff and the band's performance.
In a review for Ziggy Stardust on release, Richard Cromelin of Rolling Stone praised Bowie's imagery and storytelling, calling it some of his most "adventuresome" up to that point.
Ned Raggett of AllMusic noted the song's restraint compared to other songs on the album: "Rather than being one of the album's quick, stone-cold rockers, it's measured, takes its time, is as acoustic as it is electric." Raggett described the band's performance as "crisp and explosive" praising Ronson's guitar work, believing his riffs and their distortion could "signal ... where rock could go as any of Hendrix's big hits." He also complimented Bowie's vocal performance and called the song a "total classic."
Ultimate Classic Rock ranked "Ziggy Stardust" second on their list of the ten best glam rock songs of the 1970s, behind "20th Century Boy" by T. Rex, which was written by Marc Bolan, one of the influencers of Ziggy Stardust. The same publication, on their list of Bowie's ten best songs, listed "Ziggy Stardust" at number six, praising Ronson's guitar hook, writing, "[it] gives the song as much of its personality as Bowie's lyrics do."
Ultimate Classic Rock placed the song on their list of the top 200 songs of the 1970s, writing that as the centrepiece of Bowie's "greatest album", "in a way, it's also Bowie's story turbocharged through the cosmos, ready for whatever the decade offered him."
Ian Fortnam of Classic Rock ranked every track on the album from worst to best placing the song at number four, praising its storytelling, Ronson's guitar work and Bowie's vocal performance.
In 2018, NME, on their list of Bowie's 40 greatest songs, ranked "Ziggy Stardust" at number 20, calling Ronson's guitar riff one of rock's greatest.
Rolling Stone described the song as "one of rock's earliest, and best, power ballads."
In 2010, the song ranked at number 282 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The song is one of four of Bowie's songs included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
🔗 [LINKS]
derpferdheissthorst.de
facebook.com/derpferdheissthorst
Available on their site:
derpferdheissthorst.de/c_audio.html
#derpferdheissthorst
#ziggystardust
#acoustic
#davidbowiecover
