Exactly 50 years ago the iconic alien rockstar known as Ziggy Stardust was born. It was on June 16th, 1972 that David Bowie released his 5th studio album The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The record would be a concept album that tells the story of Bowie’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The story told through the album’s songs explains how Earth has five years left of existence. Ziggy Stardust, a human manifestation of an alien, is sent to Earth to serve as a messenger between extraterrestrials and Earthlings. He brings hope to the world by relaying how a Starman would be coming to save the planet and to reignite enthusiasm for rock ‘n’ roll with his band The Spiders From Mars. Ziggy becomes so popular that his ego becomes his downfall and the story (and the record) ends with Ziggy performing a “rock ‘n’ roll suicide” on stage.

Ziggy Stardust would be considered Bowie and his band’s (consisting of  Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey) breakthrough album that would significantly change their career for the better.

Watch our social media manager Emo explain in further detail the story of Ziggy Stardust here: