Janelle Monáe claims she experienced a one-day trip back in time to witness a true hero: David Bowie. In a chat with Lucy Dacus, the “Oh, Maker” singer revealed that she traveled to the 1970s to see Bowie perform Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars during his prime.
“I traveled back into the 1970s,” Janelle shared in Rolling Stone’s Musicians on Musicians interview on October 20. “And I saw him do Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and it was incredible.”
Astonished, Lucy asked, “You traveled back?”
“Yes,” said Janelle, 39. “I was backstage and thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’ Then I jumped back to the 2000s, inspired to create the music, write the lyrics, and build a community around transformation and queerness—not just sexuality, but how we see the world.”
This isn’t the first time the Hidden Figures star has spoken about moving between eras. She previously explained that exploring the continuum informs her futuristic musical style.
“I spend a lot of time in the future,” Janelle told The Guardian in 2018. “But to help the future, sometimes you’ve got to go back to the past, and sometimes you’ve got to stay in the present.”
