I did a bit of research on the aforementioned Fact 42 and thought that the fact was misleading enough to warrant it’s own blog entry. According to reliable sources such as David Buckley and Christopher Sandford, Vince Taylor was one of many influences on not only the song Ziggy Stardust but the entire album as well. The character of Ziggy was an amalgam of famous influences such as Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Vince Taylor, Andy Warhol, and Japanese culture. However, later in the 1980s Bowie argued that Ziggy was based solely on Vince Taylor. Undoubtedly the messianic martyrdom of Ziggy in the song and throughout the album was based on events in Taylor’s life but for Bowie to say that Ziggy Stardust is entirely based on Vince Taylor just doesn’t jive. Any fan who has followed Bowie’s career with moderate interest can clearly pick out the other influences. For instance, Kansai Yamamoto designed a large number of Ziggy’s costumes, both Lou Reed and Iggy Pop pre-dated Bowie in glam rock, and Ziggy was the penultimate manufactured pop star in the style of Warhol’s manufactured art. That statement is typical Bowie though. He has said a lot of things to the press that don’t mean a damn thing. The moral of this post is – when it comes to stating Bowie “facts”, especially concerning a character as multi-layered as Ziggy Stardust, do your research.