In this rare David Bowie footage uploaded by YouTuber Nacho Video, he sings “Cracked Actor” from the 1973 album Aladdin Sane, during the 1974 Diamond Dogs tour.
This is Peak Bowie: Clutching a skull, he swoops and sways with a red velvet jacket flung around his shoulders.
Channeling a prostitute-praising, aviators-wearing Hamlet, Bowie French kisses his Yorick. The song would eventually inspire the title of a 1975 BBC television documentary film on the Starman’s darkest days. And, like almost everything the late, insanely great performer did, it also inspired many generations to turn and face his genius.