David Bowie may be gone, but his legacy and his works live on. In fact, some handwritten lyrics by the late musician could fetch a small fortune at auction. We’re talking to the tune of $125,000 or more.
Videos by American Songwriter
Bowie wrote the lyrics to both “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” and “Suffragette City” on a double-sided piece of paper. Both songs featured in Bowie’s now-iconic fifth album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which dropped in 1972.
The lyrics sheet is a curious piece of rock history, giving some insight into Bowie’s thought process while creating the album. The lyrics feature footnotes as well as corrections and other notes by the singer as well.
Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album would become synonymous with the singer and became one of his most remembered works in a career that spanned decades. The lyrics sheet was given away at Trident Studio during the recording of the album.
According to the listing, “The hand-written notes were given to the original owner personally by David Bowle at Trident Studio, with a few other pages of original lyrics, some of which didn’t survive. They were needed so that the music publisher and management could prepare the lyric sheet, printed on the album’s inner record bag.”
The lyrics sheet is expected to go for between $63,000 to over $125,000. It’s a part of an auction by London’s Omega Auctions, which will sell several different pieces of rock memorabilia. Similar lyrics for “Starman,” also featured on the album, previously sold for $208,000 in 2022. Therefore, auctioneers are hopeful this item will have similar traction.
Of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide, Bowie previously said, “What I enjoyed was being able to hybridize these different kinds of music somewhat. To go from a ’50s rock-flavored thing with an Edith Piaf nuance on it produced that. There was a sense of French chanson in there. It wasn’t obviously a ’50s pastiche, even though it had that rhythm that said total ’50s. But it actually ends up as being a French chanson. That was purposeful.”
Bowie passed away in 2016 after a battle with liver cancer. The singer released his 26th album two days prior as a final parting gift to fans. The auction will be held on Tuesday at 5:00 a.m. ET and is sure to fascinate fans of the singer.
(Featured Image by Patrick Riviere/Getty Images)
