10 Artists That Changed With One Song

In the early ‘60s, David Bowie was still grappling with what he wanted to be. Although he was looking to cut his teeth as a songwriter, his first foray into pop music was far from perfect, being a folk rock star with a taste for vaudeville on his true debut. Since his taste for theatrics fell on deaf ears, Bowie needed something that was stronger than any Earthly rock and roll.

Almost as a reintroduction to the world, Space Oddity became the song that launched Bowie into superstardom. First being thought of as a novelty record about the space race happening at the same time, Bowie takes us on a journey in these few minutes, making you feel like you’re about to take flight along with Major Tom as he goes off in search of new lands. This wasn’t just a character piece either. Just like his creation, Bowie was on the start of his voyage into new sonic territories as well, going on to create Ziggy Stardust in the image of an alien crashing down to Earth to save humanity.

The sounds of alien glam wasn’t big enough to hold him though, and Bowie would spend the rest of his career picking away at the different pieces of his art, from diving into krautrock during his Berlin period to flirting with everything from pop to drum n bass to soul to jazz. The Starman’s career was always defined by changes, and Space Oddity was the first major voyage that Bowie would never return home from.