David Bowie And Mick Rock’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ Photo Book Sees A Reissue

If David Bowie’s 1969 single “Space Oddity” finally brought him to the U.K. pop charts, then his 1972 album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, transformed the once-unknown singer into a superstar. As the androgynous-looking alien Ziggy Stardust, Bowie created the template of the rock star as a larger-than-life figure not seen since Elvis Presley’s emergence. “There was a distinct feeling that ‘nothing was true’ anymore and that the future was not as clear-cut as it had seemed,” Bowie recalled decades later. “Nor, for that matter, was the past, Therefore, everything was up for grabs. If we needed any truths we could construct them ourselves.”

Though Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust phase lasted about two years, it left an indelible mark in music history—through the wild futuristic costumes and makeup, it is the character that Bowie has been most associated with and paved the way for the English singer’s chameleonic career. Along with the Spiders From Mars band that included guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Woody Woodsmansey, the renowned photographer Mick Rock played an important part in the Ziggy Stardust story. His eye-catching photos of Bowie at his glam rock peak brought worldwide attention to the singer and yielded a fruitful collaboration and friendship between subject and photographer that lasted until the singer’s death in 2016.

In 2002, Bowie and Rock collaborated on the photo book Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust, which was originally available as a signed limited edition title by Genesis Publications. Now on the 50th anniversary of the Ziggy Stardust album, Moonage Daydream has been republished this time as a general hardback anniversary release, allowing fans once again to relive that memorable time in Bowie’s career. Dedicated to the memory of Bowie and Rock, who died in 2021, the new edition of Moonage Daydream coincided with the launch of a recent photo installation at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in both New York City and Los Angeles.

“He clearly trusted me,” Rock told this reporter for Rolling Stone in 2015 about photographing Bowie. “He mixed a lot of elements, that was what made him much more interesting than say a Marc Bolan — it was the shaved eyebrows, it was the wild hairdo, the color, the amazing outfits. I realized what a privilege it was for me to hang out, to be able to get these photographs.”

Accompanied by Bowie’s own text providing his recollections and commentary, the more than 600 images taken by Rock for this coffee-sized book chronicle Ziggy’s mesmerizing presence onstage (including a few memorable shots of Bowie gnawing at Ronson’s guitar strings with his teeth). Equally revealing are Rock’s candid photos of Bowie backstage such as the singer applying his own makeup in his dressing room, as well as him posing for portraits, signing autographs for fans, having a drink in his hotel room, or hanging out with famous musicians such as Mick Jagger and Lou Reed. There are also images from the filming of the promo videos of “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars” along with performance set lists. Ziggy-mania culminated with Bowie’s final concert as his alter-ego at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on July 3, 1973, later followed by the 1980 Floor Show TV event—moments captured by Rock and signaled the end of the first chapter of Bowie’s influential career.

While not a memoir per se, Moonage Daydream may be the closest that Bowie spoke in-depth about time as Ziggy as he recalled the processes involved in developing the character and certain performance. He also wrote about his artistic influences like choreographer Lindsey Kemp, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and kabuki theater; creatives such as Freddie Buretti who helped shape Ziggy’s look; and musical inspirations like Reed and Iggy Pop, whose careers Bowie helped revive. Of the music he made with the Spiders, Bowie wrote: “With Woody, Trevor, and Mick I had found one of the more symbiotic structures that I would ever be associated with…Mick’s raw, passionate, Jeff Beck-style guitar was perfect for Zig and the Spiders. It had such integrity. You believed every note had been wrenched from his soul.”

“Was it the mask or the man?” Rock—who also shot such major music acts as Queen, Lou Reed, and Blondie’s Debbie Harry—wrote in 2002 for Moonage Daydream’s introduction. “I’m not sure that in the twenty months I probed, questioned, and lensed I could tell the difference. In the end I don’t believe Mr B himself could. As a seduction it was good as it ever got in the field of popular entertainment. It was glamorous, raw, nervy, distinctive and multi-layered, and once he hit the big tie he would never let go…Salut Mr B…”

The re-publication of Moonage Daydream arrives amid the theatrical release of the Brett Morgen film of the same name. On November 25, a new archival Bowie boxed set titled Divine Symmetry will be released, focusing on the music recorded by the singer in the months leading up to the release of 1971’s classic Hunky Dory album; it will feature 48 previously unreleased tracks as well as alternate mixes of the songs from Hunky Dory.

Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie and Mick Rock is published by Genesis Publications. For more information, click here.