Janelle Monáe has built her career on defying expectations and embracing the unconventional. But her latest revelation pushes boundaries even further. The 39-year-old artist claims she once traveled through time to witness David Bowie perform The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars during the 1970s.
In a recent Rolling Stone Musicians on Musicians interview, Monáe didn’t hesitate when asked about seeing Bowie live. She confirmed the experience with complete conviction, describing how she journeyed back several decades to catch the legendary performance.
“I traveled back into the 1970s, and I saw him do Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” Monáe shared. “It was incredible.”
Backstage inspiration
When Dacus expressed surprise and asked for clarification about this temporal journey, Monáe doubled down on her account. She even revealed she made it backstage, where the experience crystallized her artistic vision.
According to Monáe, being in that space confirmed what she wanted to accomplish as an artist. After returning to the 2000s, she felt equipped to create something equally transformative — work that would blend music, storytelling and community building around themes of transformation and queerness.
“I can have the musical, make the music, create the lyrics, and create community around transformation and being queer,” Monáe explained. She emphasized this wasn’t limited to sexuality but extended to how people perceive the world. Her goal became encouraging others to venture beyond the mundane and embrace their capacity for reinvention.
Finding your frequency
The discussion originated from thoughts about Halloween, a holiday Monáe views as particularly significant. She believes this time of year creates a unique cultural moment when people feel permission to explore different versions of themselves.
For Monáe, Halloween represents a period when others finally match the energy she maintains throughout the year. It’s a time when society collectively embraces the kind of boundary-pushing self-expression she champions in her work.
A cosmic loss
Bowie passed away in 2016 at age 69 after battling cancer privately. His death left an undeniable void in the music world and beyond. The impact of losing such a transformative figure continues rippling through popular culture.
Gary Oldman recently reflected on how Bowie’s absence has affected the world. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor suggested something fundamental shifted when the rock legend died.
Oldman described Bowie as cosmic glue holding things together. Since his passing, everything seems to have fallen apart. The actor admitted he still thinks about his late friend regularly, wondering how Bowie would react to current events or what would make him laugh.
Transformation as legacy
Whether Monáe‘s time travel story should be taken literally or metaphorically remains open to interpretation. What’s clear is how deeply Bowie’s artistic philosophy influenced her approach to creativity. His willingness to constantly reinvent himself and challenge conventions became a template for her own career.
Monáe’s emphasis on transformation extends beyond performance into a broader worldview. She encourages people to resist being confined by daily expectations and societal labels. Her message asks audiences to leave space for personal evolution and unexpected possibilities.
This philosophy connects directly to Bowie’s legacy. Throughout his career, he embodied radical reinvention, creating distinct personas and exploring uncharted artistic territory. Monáe carries that torch forward, applying similar principles to her own genre-defying work.
Her music videos, albums and performances consistently push against limitations. She creates spaces where fluid identity and unconventional narratives take center stage. This approach has earned her recognition as one of contemporary music’s most innovative voices.
By channeling the spirit of artists like Bowie, Monáe continues expanding what’s possible in popular music. Her willingness to embrace the strange, the theatrical and the transformative keeps his influence alive for new generations.