David Bowie's lyrics sheet from Ziggy Stardust on sale for £100,000

A bit of (Ziggy) gold dust! David Bowie’s handwritten lyrics for Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide and Suffragette City off rocker’s classic album goes on sale for £100,000

  • The lyric sheet, owned by a Bowie collector, is expected to spark global interest

David Bowie’s handwritten lyric sheet for two cult songs off his classic ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album is going on sale for £100,000.

The icon scribbled down verses for Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide and Suffragette City on both sides of one piece of A4 paper.

There are various corrections and words crossed out as he toyed with the lyrics.

Both songs made it on to his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, which also featured the single Starman.

The lyric sheet is expected to spark worldwide interest when it goes under the hammer at Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside.

Bowie died aged 69 at his home in New York in 2016, having been diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months earlier. 

David Bowie poses for a portrait dressed as ‘Ziggy Stardust’ in a hotel room in New York, 1973 

Bowie’s handwritten lyrics for Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide and Suffragette City are going on sale for £100,000

There are various corrections and words crossed out as Bowie toyed with the lyrics

David Bowie performing as Ziggy Stardust at a David Bowie concert at Earl’s Court, London, in 1973

The star originally gave the sheet to an employee at Trident Studio in London’s Soho so they could print the lyrics on the album’s inner record bag.

They were acquired by a Bowie expert and collector in the early 1980s who is now selling them after four decades.

The auctioneers say it is an ‘incredible artefact’ which showcases ‘two real cult favourites from the Bowie songbook’.

Auction manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said: ‘These are two real cult favourites in the wonderful Bowie oeuvre and Suffragette City has been described as one of his very best.

‘The notes at the bottom of Suffragette City are interesting in that they show Bowie’s early thought process in brainstorming the end part of the song with the famous ‘Wham bam thank you ma’am’ line.

The lyric sheet, which is double-sided, was acquired by a Bowie expert and collector in the early 1980s who is now selling it after four decades

The icon performing on stage on his Ziggy Stardust/Aladdin Sane tour in London, 1973

Bowie died aged 69 at his home in New York in 2016 , having been diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months earlier

The lyric sheet is expected to spark worldwide interest when it goes under the hammer

The sale of the lyric sheet takes place on November 28

READ MORE: David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes music video spacesuit to sell for £80,000 at music memorabilia auction which is set to bring in more than £1.5million

‘It’s an incredible artefact to have and to hold and it is sure to excite the many millions of Bowie fans around the world – just as the ‘Starman’ lyrics did.

‘We are excited to see what it might achieve the day.’

Ziggy Stardust was Bowie’s critically acclaimed fifth studio album featuring his intergalactic alter ego.

In September 2022, the auctioneers sold a page of Bowie’s handwritten lyrics for Starman for £165,000.

The star passed away two days after the release of his final studio album, Blackstar, which coincided with his 69th birthday.

The sale of the lyric sheet takes place on November 28.

Last year MailOnline reported that David Bowie’s spacesuit was expected to fetch more than £81,000 at auction.

The iconic costume was worn by the late singer in his 1980 video for Ashes to Ashes.

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