23 Heddon Street — Ziggy Stardust Album Cover

The cover photograph for David Bowie's 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was shot in a narrow alley just off Regent Street in the West End of London. On the night of 4 November 1971, photographer Brian Ward photographed Bowie standing beneath a green and white K. West furrier's shop awning at 23 Heddon Street, posed in his Ziggy Stardust costume — platforms, jumpsuit, and that now-iconic haircut — against the damp cobblestones of the alley. The back-cover photograph was taken in the same location. The session lasted only a few hours.

The image became one of the most recognised album covers in rock history. Heddon Street is a short, functional alley off Regent Street — entirely unremarkable except for this association. At the time of the shoot, it was dark, wet, and largely deserted. Bowie's choice of a London setting for the Ziggy character was deliberate: the alien rock star mythology he was constructing needed a specific urban grittiness, and Heddon Street provided it. The album was released in June 1972 and redefined glam rock.

The shop featured in the photograph is long gone. A permanent bronze plaque has been installed at the location to mark the shoot, and the street attracts a steady stream of Bowie pilgrims who recreate the album cover pose. The alley is freely accessible and is one of several significant Bowie locations in the West End of London.