I don’t think I could ever summarize the impact that “Ziggy Stardust” has had on rock & roll in a single paragraph. But I’ll say this. When I was in high school, a half-decent set of musicians played it at Battle of the Bands and the thing was powerful. They weren’t exceptional. They weren’t in sync. But they unlocked Bowie’s emotion, ingenuity and attitude. That’s the power of Ziggy. In many ways, the song, like the main character, helped save rock & roll.

“Making love with his ego, Ziggy sucked up into his mind. Like a leper messiah, when the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band.”