The Southbank Centre Archive will also present a separate free display exploring David Bowie’s history with the Centre, stretching over 50 years, and his ongoing legacy. From his performance in the recently opened Purcell Room in 1969, to later performances alongside Lou Reed and his curation of Southbank Centre’s annual contemporary music festival, Meltdown, never before seen archival material will be available for public view. The whole infrastructure was there. We were using the ‘Hey Jude’ piano The Beatles used at Trident, and you also have Ken Scott’s [producer] experience and the way he mixed that record.” The cover had a profound effect on many who saw it. Gillespie was at primary school in Glasgow when a friend brought the album into class. “The first thing was the image, this creature of indeterminate sex. It’s very powerful stuff for an 11-year-old to be… I’m not gonna say ‘exposed to’, because that makes it sound seedy. But to be presented with. I thought it was attractive, but not in a sexual way. More just – I’d never seen anything like this before. It messed around with the idea of what a man could and should be. It was revolutionary”. Camille Paglia, a US feminist academic, described the picture as “one of the most emblematic and influential art images of the past half-century, reproduced or parodied in advertising, media and entertainment worldwide”. Speaking to the Guardian on the eve of the exhibition’s opening, Chris Duffy said that for his father it was “just another job”. He added: “I don’t think any artist gets up in the morning and thinks I’m going to create a piece of brilliant art or a cultural icon. It’s all about timing. A lot of things came together at the right time to produce this.”

The Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer will host two nights of club music in celebration of Bowie on April 21 and 22, with DJ collective Queer House Party and Afro-Caribbean-inspired Queer Bruk. On 14th April, 2023, one week before its Golden Jubilee, ALADDIN SANE will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master. Photographer Chris Duffy calls the image “the Mona Lisa of pop”. It was shot by his father, Brian Duffy, a renowned celebrity photographer who died in 2010. Bowie and Brian Duffy enjoyed a fruitful creative partnership: Aladdin Sane was the first of three album covers they shot together. Aladdin Sane 50 Years is being marked by a series of events The Southbank Centre, London for more info southbankcentre.co.uk Bowie described ALADDIN SANE as ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America’. The album was to be Ziggy Stardust's last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album's release in July 1973 at the infamous final show with the Spiders From Mars at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.I think that was Duffy putting his Daliesque abstract stamp on it, the image would still look striking without it but the watermark makes it even more mysterious. It could be a teardrop, it could be a mercury water droplet, and its shape is also quite phallic. David didn’t know about that until afterwards, Duffy just put it on there.”

Featuring a two-month long exhibition (6 April – 28 May) as well as a stellar line-up of live music and talks inspired by the album (21 & 22 April)They will discuss exhibitions ranging from The Rolling Stones’ Exhibitionism (2016) to Amy: Beyond the Stage (2021). Broakes will chair a conversation with Chris Duffy discussing the Aladdin Sane: 50 Years exhibition and the enduring relevance of the album. There will also be talks exploring Aladdin Sane, Bowie, and his cultural significance. The National Poetry Library presents Aladdin Sound with ten of the UK’s most exciting poets in the Centre’s Purcell Room on 21 April. It will also look at the music scene of the early 1970s, when Bowie and Brian Duffy first met, and go on to chart the relationship that developed between the musician and photographer. Mark Ball, the Southbank Centre’s artistic director, said: “The Aladdin Sane album cover portrait is considered to be one of the most influential pop culture images of the past half century, and the music remains fresh and contemporary, so we wanted to recognise this major anniversary and reflect on the album and its artwork’s enduring legacy.

Time’ had at first been written with Underwood in mind. “The song was originally titled ‘We Should Be On By Now’ and recorded with me on vocals,” says Underwood. “Along with ‘Hole In The Ground’ and ‘Song for Bob Dylan’, these three songs David wrote for me. He wanted to revive my singing career at the time. Later on, David decided to re-write 'We Should Be On By Now' and turned it into 'Time', a very different song with a few bits from the original.” Additionally, Anna Calvi, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, Roxanne Tataei, Tawiah, and Lynks will join join the Nu Civilisation Orchestra to perform Aladdin Sane live in full on 21 April at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. Chris refers to the cover as "the Mona Lisa of Pop", and it remains Bowie’s most recognisable album sleeve. It also provided him with a brand logo in the form of the flash but it’s the small teardrop on Bowie's shoulder that adds a further uncanny quality. Chris Duffy who took the photo used on the front cover of David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album Credit: Duffy (c) Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive This new pressing of ALADDIN SANE was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.It’s a work that continues to inspire today’s contemporary artists and the gender fluidity of the images still resonate deeply in queer culture in the UK and across the world.” An exhibition to celebrate 50 years of David Bowie‘s album Aladdin Sane has been announced for London’s Southbank Centre. He later had the opportunity to photograph Bowie alongside his father in 1980 for his 14th studio album Scary Monsters. Bowie describedALADDIN SANEas ‘Ziggy Goes To Washington: Ziggy under the influence of America’. The album was to be Ziggy Stardust's last stand, and the persona was laid to rest three months after the album's release in July 1973 at the infamous final showwith theSpidersFromMarsat London’s Hammersmith Odeon. The Nu Civilisation Orchestra will host the event, which will see Anna Calvi, Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters, Tawiah, Roxanne Tataei and Lynks perform Bowie’s album in its entirety, including hits such as The Jean Genie, Drive In Saturday and Lady Grinning Soul.

It was a habit Bowie continued throughout his life, taking threads from previous ideas and giving them a new context. Mike Garson explains: “That’s a 1920s stride style of piano; again David pulled that out of me. He was the ultimate casting director because he got the best out of everybody.”I think he was having a hard time with the pressure he was under, having created this character he had to play every night,” says Woodmansey, who was blindsided by the announcement and was told he was no longer needed by Bowie four days later – on his wedding day. “So he eventually stayed in character as Ziggy all the time. And Ziggy was pretty f***ing weird. It was impossible having a normal conversation with Ziggy.” The day’s talks will close with writers Paul Burston and Golnoosh Nour on the cultural impact of Bowie’s androgyny and his playful subversion of gender identity.