Is Ziggy Stardust Star-Bound Again?

Neil Young’s new $25-million contract with Warner Bros. shows how much it can be worth for a veteran rock icon to be hailed as the godfather of today’s young tastemakers.

Will David Bowie be the next ‘70s rock star to benefit from similar acclaim?

The man behind such classic albums as “Ziggy Stardust” and “Low” is suddenly being championed by a wide range of cutting-edge artists.

Shortly before his death last year, Kurt Cobain performed Bowie’s old “The Man Who Sold the World” in an “MTV Unplugged” show. Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor said that “Low” was one of the albums he played constantly for inspiration during the making of his own “The Downward Spiral” collection.

John Hammond, director of marketing for Rykodisc Records, which has re-released most of Bowie’s ‘70s and ‘80s albums in recent years, reports that sales of old Bowie collections have been boosted by all the attention.

“When you’re dealing with music like this, it’s out there for every new generation to discover, and we’re glad this generation is,” he says.

Bowie’s pop-music career seemed at a dead end two years ago after his “Black Tie White Noise” album flopped and his U.S. record label, the BMG-distributed Savage, folded.

This capped a spotty decade for the mercurial performer, with uneven recordings and a pledge to never again perform his classic material. The last time he had a Top 20 album was in 1984 with “Tonight.”

So will the resurgence of interest translate into market value for new Bowie records?

That’s what he’s trying to find out. The Englishman is just completing a new album with producer Brian Eno, who was a key force on three of Bowie’s adventurous late-’70s albums. And with that project nearly ready to go, he’s begun discussions with U.S. record companies about a new deal.

Record company executives surveyed by Pop Eye say that a contract along the lines of Young’s is out of the question, especially since Bowie’s catalogue is not part of the package. Though a few also questioned Bowie’s long-term commitment to music, what with his side trips into acting, most agreed that he once again is an attractive figure for a label.

“While his records in recent years might not have been stellar, I don’t think that’s a reflection on his ability and potential,” says Hugo Burnham of Warner Bros.-distributed Qwest Records. “If he would be willing to work with somebody at the record company, and if that somebody is the right alchemist, it could be gold.”