David Bowie was renowned for his flamboyant, ever-evolving style and for pioneering the use of alter egos to express his artistic vision. Throughout his career, he assumed many personas, with some of the most notable being Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Halloween Jack, and The Thin White Duke.
Major Tom was the protagonist of Bowie’s 1969 hit “Space Oddity” and the character’s gravitational attraction to the unknown made him one of Bowie’s most popular alter egos. Ziggy Stardust, the starman and leader of the band The Spiders from Mars, became a style icon in the 1970s and was immortalized in the 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Aladdin Sane, an offshoot of Ziggy Stardust, was characterized by the iconic lightning bolt painted across his face and is often considered to be a tribute to Bowie’s British heritage. Halloween Jack was the lead character in Bowie’s album Diamond Dogs and featured a post-apocalyptic dystopian theme. The last of Bowie’s main alter egos was The Thin White Duke, who was a character from his 1976 album Station to Station and was inspired by classic Hollywood glamour.
Except for the alter egos listed above, all of the following were not alter egos of David Bowie: Tao Jones, John Merrick (The Elephant Man), and Dave Jay.
Tao Jones was a song written and sung by Bowie for his 1987 album Never Let Me Down. The song was intended as an update of the “Tired of Waiting” single from 1965 and was not intended to be an alter ego. John Merrick (The Elephant Man) was a character from the 1980 Broadway production of the same name. While Bowie played the role onstage and in the 1982 film adaptation, Merrick was not intended as an alter ego. Lastly, Dave Jay was the name used by Bowie’s friend, singer, and producer Chest Rockwell, when performing with Bowie during his 2001 Heathen tour.