Ziggy and his band’s songs are played through
the radio and gradually his music was picked up
by the younger generation. Through the radio
they hear the songs talking about a starman,
waiting in the sky to come and blow our minds
and let the children boogie. His message
makes them feel better about the future and his
name starts to spread.
His gigs started to become more and more
popular as his fame grew. His stage persona
though was certainly not the norm. Ziggy’s
gender was as ambiguous as his sexuality and
he often clung tightly to a male guitarist on
stage, openly displaying his bisexuality. His
clothes were vibrant, often seen performing in
a tight leotard with a large ‘love jewel’ stuck
to his forehead. He was definitely not like
anything seen in rock music before and his
liberated look inspired and encouraged a lot
of fans to feel more at ease with their sexuality
and gender.
But Ziggy soon started to feel the downside of
fame. As he became more and more popular, so
his band faded into the background. Soon the
Spiders were starting to feel resentful. Ziggy’s
fame was so immense that they had been
virtually relegated to a backing band. After a
show one night, a female fan approached Ziggy
and warned him to ‘hang on to himself’ as his
fame started to rise out of control. Her words
would prove to be prophetic.
But Ziggy was riding high on his fame. He felt
more and more like the messiah he was trying
to be and started to enjoy the trappings of
fame, such as money and power. His ego started
to take over and he soon started to believe his
own hype, that he was able to save the world.
However, slowly Ziggy began to realise that
his fans were now actually not interested in
the end of life on earth and were going about
their everyday lives anyway. The rock and roll
lifestyle had started to take him over too with
drugs, drink and other unhealthy activities now
a part of his life as much as his music.
How Ziggy actually died is subject to rumour.
Some suggest that in a fit of revenge, a member
of the Spiders killed him on stage. Others
suggest the Invisible Infinite did in fact
arrive, but they were not interested in saving
the world at all and instead tore Ziggy apart
on stage and used his various body parts to
make themselves manifest (being invisible, as
their name suggests). But the most commonly
accepted story is that in a fit of realisation
about the state he was in and the futility of his
fame, Ziggy invited the fans onstage to rip him
apart with their adoration.
Ziggy’s androgyny, psychedelic outfits and
sexuality were a massive departure from the
mainstream. Although his music offered hope
at a time of crisis, his true legacy is that Ziggy
made a bold statement to the public that being
different is okay. Being so far from normal as it
is possible himself yet still adored by the public,
Ziggy showed that the most important person
to be is yourself. His message to the world was
quite ironic considering that gossip suggests
Ziggy was not actually an alien messiah come
to save the human race, but just an exceptional
and talented human being from Brixton called
David Bowie.
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