In June 1969, what would become his first major hit single, Space Oddity, was released.

Photo: RCA Victor, fair useД«owieвЂ™s obsession with outer space predated the creation of Ziggy Stardust. The cover art for вЂThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from MarsвЂ™. And like BowieвЂ™s album, the Stockholm Conference began amid conflicting emotions: hopes of a new dawn of environmental awareness and technological possibility set against fears of global conflict and planetary collapse.

TodayвЂ™s global climate summits, most recently COP26 in Glasgow last November, are its direct descendants. The Stockholm Conference, which began on June 5, 1972, was the first UN conference on the human environment, and the starting point for global environmental governance. Indeed, the day of Ziggy StardustвЂ™s release coincided with the final day of a landmark gathering in Sweden to discuss the future of the planet. And by the early 1970s, fears of an ecological crisis and overpopulation were starting to take on similar apocalyptic proportions. During the Cold War, the prospect of man-made armageddon through nuclear war was never far away. Its opening track, вЂFive YearsвЂ™, warned listeners that вЂњEarth was really dyingвЂќ. Bowie-Ziggy wore heavy makeup, dyed his hair red, and dressed in clothes inspired by Japanese kabuki theatre.Д«ut coupled with its playful fascination for space technology, the Ziggy Stardust album also described a dread of the PandoraвЂ™s box that might be opened as a result. BowieвЂ™s fictional alter ego encapsulated all these groundbreaking developments: an androgynous rockstar from outer space with, in the words of the albumвЂ™s title song, вЂњa god-given assвЂќ. The possibilities of computer power were beginning to unfold, and the countercultural youth revolt was challenging prevailing values and norms. In the early 1970s, the US Apollo programme was, briefly, making men visiting the moon seem like a routine event. It was an artsy and ambitious rock album which captured the timeвЂ™s sense of being on the cusp of new technological and cultural frontiers.

Like BowieвЂ™s album, the Stockholm Conference began amid conflicting emotions: hopes of a new dawn of environmental awareness set against fears of planetary collapse.Дavid Bowie released his seminal album вЂThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from MarsвЂ™ 50 years ago, on June 16, 1972.

Indeed, the day of Ziggy StardustвЂ™s release coincided with the final day of a landmark gathering in Sweden to discuss the future of the planet: the Stockholm Conference.

During the Cold War, the prospect of armageddon was never far away вЂ“ and by the early 1970s, fears of an ecological crisis were starting to take on similar drastic proportions.

Coupled with its playful fascination for space technology, the Ziggy Stardust album also described a dread of the PandoraвЂ™s box that might be opened as a result.

In the 1970s, the Apollo programme was sending men to the Moon, the possibilities of computers were starting to unfold and the countercultural youth revolt was challenging prevailing norms.David Bowie released his seminal album вЂThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from MarsвЂ™ 50 years ago, on June 16, 1972.A memorial to David Bowie in London, February 2017.

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