It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972).

The song was originally offered to English band Mott the Hoople, who declined it and recorded Bowie's "All the Young Dudes" instead.

"Suffragette City" received acclaim from music critics, with many praising the guitar work, the band's performance, the false ending, the lyric and the song's power.

[3] Before recording it himself, Bowie offered "Suffragette City" to Mott the Hoople, an English band he greatly admired, provided they forgo their plan to break up.

Bowie composed the riff, while Scott used the ARP located at Trident to find the right sound and Ronson played the notes.

[9] According to biographer Peter Doggett, while other rock songs such as the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" and the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night" use a standard three-chord structure that is spaced "two and three semitones apart" (such as E-G-A or A-G-C), "Suffragette City" uses tighter, two-semitone gaps (F-G-A), which "leaves the ear to expect a softer A minor as the root of the song, only for a decisive A major chord to appear instead".

[8] "Suffragette City" includes the lyric "Ah droogie, don't crash here", a direct reference to the Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange (1962); Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation was a major influence on Ziggy Stardust's cultural grab-bag, dictating both costumes and pre-show music on tour.

[14][15] It was subsequently released as the 10th and penultimate track on his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, on 16 June of that year.

In a review of Ziggy Stardust on its release, Richard Cromelin of Rolling Stone called "Suffragette City" Bowie's "supreme moment as a rock & roller".

[19] Noting the Velvet Underground influence, he praised the guitar work in the second half and the false ending, writing that the lyric "Oooohh Wham Bam Thank you Ma'am!"

[20] Ned Raggett, also of AllMusic, noted the influence of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, which was previously seen on the Hunky Dory track "Queen Bitch", but found an overall better result in "Suffragette City".

[21] Jordan Blum, writing for PopMatters, described "Suffragette City" and "Ziggy Stardust" as the album's standout tracks that are "still endlessly addicting and pleasantly infectious" 40 years later.

[23] On 16 May 1972, Bowie recorded "Suffragette City" for the BBC radio programme Sounds of the 70s, presented by John Peel; the session was broadcast one week later.

[25] Pegg called the performance "excellent", praising Ronson's "sharp" guitar work and the boogie-woogie piano-playing from Nicky Graham.