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INSANE: Mick ronson | Rare Historical Photos

“The rock business has become so established, and so much like a society, that I have revolted against it." After killing off Ziggy and breaking up the band, David Bowie recorded a covers album in a French castle. This is the story of Pin Ups’ creation

After Aladdin Sane, Bowie recorded Pin Ups to pacify his label – but the critics weren't impressed

Louder

“Mick came in with his Les Paul, plugged in to my amp and fiddled with the controls. All of a sudden there it was, the full Ziggy Stardust tone”: The post-Bowie career of Mick Ronson, rock ’n’ roll’s most quietly spoken guitar hero

Sure, he made a massive imprint on David Bowie’s classic early ’70s albums. But Mick Ronson also worked with Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Elton John, Roger McGuinn, Morrissey, Ian Hunter and many others

Guitar World

“Mick was a star. It felt like replacing Keith Richards. I shat my pants”: Earl Slick on the fear he felt replacing David Bowie’s most iconic guitar player – and how Bowie calmed him down

Slick stepped into fill the spot in the mid 1970s, and thought he'd have a hard time winning over the fans and the media

Guitar World

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“Opening the case, we find ourselves transported back in time some 54 years”: How Gibson made the ultimate tribute to David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson

This Collector’s Edition replica of Ronson’s Bowie-era ’68 Les Paul Custom transports you spiritually – and tonally – to the glory days of the Spiders from Mars (Hull) – but it does not come cheap

Guitar World

“We couldn’t play those songs properly. It’s a bunch of kids, playing a lot of chords, not always successfully”: Glenn Tilbrook on the resurrection of the Squeeze concept album that never was

Demo’d in ’74, when their compositional skills wrote checks their chops couldn’t cash, Squeeze shelved Trixies for 52 years. Now, Tilbrook says he’s proud to pull this lost album from the time machine

Guitar World

“Afterwards he sent David an invoice for $10,000. I don’t know if David actually paid him that much”: Tony Visconti on Dave Grohl’s “ludicrious” Bowie session fee

He guested on the Heathen album

MusicRadar

“It’s about time this unsung guitar great received the recognition he deserves”: All the guitar gear that has caught my eye this week – including a firm-first from my favorite pedal brand

New drops from Gibson, Ernie Ball Music Man, JHS Pedals and more

Guitar World

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“We hope that this project advances the broader recognition he so richly deserves”: Gibson honors Mick Ronson with limited-edition recreation of his iconic David Bowie Les Paul

The release is limited to just 100 copies, celebrating that guitarist that helped immortalize a rock ’n’ roll icon

Guitar World

“I think Mick would be totally astonished that he’s still being talked about in such a positive way. This guitar just adds sparkle to an already legendary life”: Gibson unveils Murphy Lab replica of Mick Ronson’s Bowie-era 1968 Les Paul Custom

With the ebony finish stripped to reveal its two-piece plain maple top, mismatched controls, custom-wound pickups, this limited run reproduction is the spitting image of Ronson's original

MusicRadar

"He came down with this battered old Telecaster and played the best solo I’ve ever heard in my life": The debauched story of the Britrock classic made perfect by the last guitar solo from a legend

All the elements of the classic rock'n'roll lifestyle fed into a storming tune about a crazy ex-lover

Louder

“We want to tell the handcrafted element of this; blood, sweat, and tears have gone into these guitars”: Gibson gives us a sneak preview of its 2026 guitars – including long-awaited signature models for two guitar legends

From ‘50s and ‘60s-inspired reissues to signature models for Mick Ronson, Michael Schenker, and Gary Clark Jr., it promises to be a big year for the historic firm

Guitar World

“If you’re talking dazzling sleight of mind, radical ideas and a willingness to create shock-art for the masses, there was no one more brilliant”: Revisiting David Bowie’s career from a prog perspective

Beyond his work with Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Rick Wakeman and others, plus comparisons to Rush, ELP and krautrock, a commitment to audacious experimentation ran through the true icon’s entire life

Louder

“It was a terrible record to make. The arrangement’s so weird. It’s not very musical”: The American anthem that hit No.1 and made a star of John ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp – with help from a Bowie sidekick and inspiration from a Phil Collins classic

His motto: “Write about something that matters to people, man!”

MusicRadar

"Bowie was standing there and for a split second you could see the panic in his eyes": The story of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the moments that made him a star

Band members, friends and associates tell the story of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

Louder

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“I was just getting my sound when David shouted: ‘OK, done!’ I was like: ‘But I haven’t actually started yet!’”: The future Motörhead guitarist who recorded a last-minute guitar solo for David Bowie

Two worlds collided for a British TV show

Guitar World

“I was attracted to melodic bass players like Carol Kaye. Why should a rock bassist play dumb notes all the time?” How Tony Visconti rethought rock bass for David Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World

The legendary producer revisits his ground-shaking bass work on Bowie’s 1970 breakthrough album

Louder

Did David Bowie really have a hand in NINE classic albums in a three year period? Yes, he did.

After two failed solo albums, in the period between 1971 and 1974, David Bowie worked on nine of rock's greatest albums. WTF?

Guitar World

“I sold it to Bob Rock for the same amount I paid for it. Just after that, the ‘Slasheffect’ happened… he sold it for 15times what he paid”: Billy Duffy on the Les Paul ’Burst he sold on the cheap – and why player-grade beats all-original every time

Think of Billy Duffy and it’s Gretsch White Falcons, Les Paul Customs or maybe an LP Junior. Here he explains why these three iconic six-strings have been the tools of his trade for over 40 years

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Guitar World

“Edgar Winter invited me to jam. From the stage, you could see the door, and in walks Buddy. And I said, ‘He showed up!’” Earl Slick on the time he jammed in front of Buddy Guy at the blues great’s club – and won his heart

Guy would later invite Slick to jam with him, and it was a night that blew the Bowie guitarist’s mind

MusicRadar

“No one ever knew the number, so it never rang”: The intriguing mystery of the ringing phone captured at the end of David Bowie’s Life on Mars

The ringing phone that closes out Bowie’s Hunky Dory epic was captured by accident - and nobody quite knows who was on the other end

Guitar World

“I used a Gibson EB-3 through my time with David, trying to get the same bass sound Andy Fraser got with Free”: How the late, great Trevor Bolder applied melodic flair to anchor this irresistible 12/8 rocker from David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane

Replacing longtime Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti in the Spiders From Mars, Bolder found himself writing basslines on the spot, a challenge he relished. On Drive-In Saturday, he hit the jackpot

Louder

“I didn’t really get the music, to be honest. It was a bit too prog for me”: The prog superstars who tried to steal drummer Roger Taylor from Queen

The history of two hugely successful bands could have been very different

Louder

“Working with Nick Mason built my confidence. People recognised me as the guitarist I am”: How Gary Kemp came back from his post-pop wilderness to join the Pink Floyd family, and what Saucerful Of Secrets might do next

Ex Spandau Ballet member and movie star discusses being inspired by David Gilmour, Syd Barrett and Mick Ronson, the attitude-crushing mid-90s experience that derailed his career, and what drummer Mason is really like

Guitar World

“Mick Ronson came to see one of the Springsteen shows, and he was just so proud of me. He had a classic rock ‘n’ roll existence, but I love him for all that”: Shane Fontayne on the kindness of Ronson, serving the Boss –and playing Stairway for Jimmy Page

His career highs include surprising Stevie Van Zandt with an improvised part, jamming with U2, and playing Stairway To Heaven with the Heart sisters while Jimmy Page was guest of honor

Guitar World

“Zal is really nobody’s guitar hero. Fans say he’s the most underrated player ever; many guitarists rate him amongst the best... but I’ve never heard anyone call him their ‘guitar hero’”: Billy Rankin on lessons learned from the legendary Zal Cleminson

In and out of Nazareth twice, and always loyal to his Gibson ES-335, Rankin had a lifetime's worth of rock stories by his mid-20s

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