Star

The song Star, included in the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, is presented as a narrative about ambition and the desire to achieve fame in the rock world. It is situated at a key moment in the album's concept, acting as a bridge between the observation of figures like Marc Bolan in Lady Stardust and the projection of a rock icon vision in tracks like Hang On To Yourself and Ziggy Stardust itself. The idea of stardom and the construction of an artistic image was not new to David Bowie; as early as 1967, on his debut album, he explored the notion of "star" in Maid Of Bond Street. Later, in 1971, with Changes, he sang about the "millions of dead ends" traveled in that pursuit, an aspiration that would fully materialize with the figure of Ziggy. Bowie himself commented in 1971 that he believed in fantasy and in the images of stars, considering them important figures who attract attention by being perceived as different. The concept of "star" appears recurrently in his discography, with nine titles including it, four of them on the album Ziggy Stardust.

The genesis of Star dates back to a demo recorded by David Bowie in May 1971, at Radio Luxembourg studios in London. This early version included his vocals, handclaps, slide guitar, and piano. Around the same time, Bowie recorded tracks like Moonage Daydream and Hang On to Yourself with his band Arnold Corns. Subsequently, in November 1971, the definitive album version was recorded at Trident Studios in London, with the participation of Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Mick Woodmansey on drums, under the production of Bowie and Ken Scott. This recording was made alongside other songs such as Hang On to Yourself and Rock 'n' Roll Suicide. The song, with a duration of 2:47, was released as the seventh track on the album. A live version of Star was released as a promotional single in the United States in 1978 for the album Stage, although it did not chart. Critic Ian Fortnam described it as Bowie's most theatrical piece on the album.