Editing David Bowie (section)

===1972–1974: Glam rock era===
[[File:David-Bowie Early.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=A shot of a man with an acoustic guitar taken from below|Bowie during the [[Ziggy Stardust Tour]], 1972]]
Dressed in a striking costume, his hair dyed reddish-brown, Bowie launched his Ziggy Stardust stage show with [[the Spiders from Mars]]—Ronson, Bolder, and Woodmansey—at the Toby Jug pub in [[Tolworth]] in [[Kingston upon Thames]] on 10&nbsp;February 1972.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=135–136}} The show was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom as he toured the UK over the next six months and creating, as described by David Buckley, a "cult of Bowie" that was "unique—its influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom."{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=135–136}} ''[[The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars]]'' (1972), combining the hard rock elements of ''The Man Who Sold the World'' with the lighter experimental rock and pop of ''Hunky Dory'', was released in June and was considered one of the defining albums of [[glam rock]]. "[[Starman (song)|Starman]]", issued as an April single ahead of the album, was to cement Bowie's UK breakthrough: both single and album charted rapidly following his July ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' performance of the song. The album, which remained in the chart for two years, was soon joined there by the six-month-old ''Hunky Dory''. At the same time, the non-album single "[[John, I'm Only Dancing]]" and "[[All the Young Dudes]]", a song he wrote and produced for [[Mott the Hoople]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Why David Bowie gave away All the Young Dudes to Mott the Hoople |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/david-bowie-gave-away-young-10749662 |website=Wales Online |date=18 January 2016 |access-date=12 October 2019 |archive-date=12 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012143448/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/david-bowie-gave-away-young-10749662 |url-status=live}}</ref> were successful in the UK. The [[Ziggy Stardust Tour]] continued to the United States.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|pp=93–95}}

Bowie contributed backing vocals, keyboards and guitar to Reed's 1972 solo breakthrough ''[[Transformer (Lou Reed album)|Transformer]]'', co-producing the album with Ronson.{{sfn|Buckley|2000|p=156}} The following year, Bowie co-produced and [[Audio mixing (recorded music)|mixed]] [[the Stooges]]' album ''[[Raw Power]]'' alongside Iggy Pop.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-america-inspired-david-bowie-to-kill-ziggy-stardust-with-aladdin-sane-230827/|title=How America Inspired David Bowie to Kill Ziggy Stardust With 'Aladdin Sane'|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=13 April 2016|access-date=14 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514165306/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/how-america-inspired-david-bowie-to-kill-ziggy-stardust-with-aladdin-sane-230827/|archive-date=14 May 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> His own ''[[Aladdin Sane]]'' (1973) was his first UK number-one album. Described by Bowie as "Ziggy goes to America", it contained songs he wrote while travelling to and across the US during the earlier part of the Ziggy tour, which now continued to Japan to promote the new album. ''Aladdin Sane'' spawned the UK top five singles "[[The Jean Genie]]" and "[[Drive-In Saturday]]".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=361–364}}{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=108}}

Bowie's love of acting led to his total immersion in the characters he created for his music. "Offstage I'm a robot. Onstage I achieve emotion. It's probably why I prefer dressing up as Ziggy to being David." With satisfaction came severe personal difficulties: acting the same role over an extended period, it became impossible for him to separate Ziggy Stardust—and later, the Thin White Duke—from his own character offstage. Ziggy, Bowie said, "wouldn't leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to go sour&nbsp;... My whole personality was affected. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity."{{sfn|Sandford|1997|pp=106–107}} His later Ziggy shows, which included songs from both ''Ziggy Stardust'' and ''Aladdin Sane'', were ultra-theatrical affairs filled with shocking stage moments, such as Bowie stripping down to a [[sumo]] wrestling loincloth or simulating [[oral sex]] with Ronson's guitar.{{sfn|Carr|Murray|1981|p=7}} Bowie toured and gave press conferences as Ziggy before a dramatic and abrupt on-stage "retirement" at London's [[Hammersmith Odeon]] on 3&nbsp;July 1973.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=165–167}} Footage from the final show was incorporated for the film ''[[Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (film)|Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars]]'', which premiered in 1979 and commercially released in 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phfilms.com/films/ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars|title=Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars|website=phfilms.com|publisher=Pennebaker Hegedus Films|access-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004192802/https://phfilms.com/films/ziggy-stardust-and-the-spiders-from-mars/|archive-date=4 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Listen|type=music|filename=David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust.ogg|title="Ziggy Stardust"|description=Sample of "[[Ziggy Stardust (song)|Ziggy Stardust]]" (1972). A pioneer of [[glam rock]], Bowie performed as the character Ziggy Stardust, backed by the Spiders from Mars.}}
After breaking up the Spiders, Bowie attempted to move on from his Ziggy persona. His back catalogue was now highly sought after: ''The Man Who Sold the World'' had been re-released in 1972 along with ''Space Oddity''. ''Hunky Dory''{{'s}} "[[Life on Mars?]]" was released in June 1973 and peaked at number three on the [[UK Singles Chart]]. Entering the same chart in September, his 1967 novelty record "The Laughing Gnome" reached number six.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|p=163}} ''[[Pin Ups]]'', a collection of covers of his 1960s favourites, followed in October, producing a UK number three hit in his version of [[the McCoys]]'s "[[Sorrow (The McCoys song)|Sorrow]]" and itself peaking at number one, making Bowie the best-selling act of 1973 in the UK. It brought the total number of Bowie albums concurrently on the UK chart to six.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=115}}