"The Jean Genie" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released in November 1972 as the lead single to his 1973 album Aladdin Sane.

According to Bowie, it was "a smorgasbord of imagined Americana", with a protagonist inspired by Iggy Pop, and the title being an allusion to author Jean Genet.

One of Bowie's most famous tracks, it was promoted with a film clip featuring Andy Warhol associate Cyrinda Foxe and peaked at No.

The song's chugging R&B riff is often compared to the Yardbirds, especially their cover of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man",[3][10] but was most probably inspired by French singer Jacques Dutronc's La Fille du Père Noël (1966), while the lyrics have been likened to the "stylised sleaze" of the Velvet Underground.

[5] In his 2005 book Moonage Daydream, he stated this less equivocally: "Starting out as a lightweight riff thing I had written one evening in NY for Cyrinda's enjoyment, I developed the lyric to the otherwise wordless pumper and it ultimately turned into a bit of a smorgasbord of imagined Americana ... based on an Iggy-type persona ...

[13] Tapes of this edition of Top of the Pops were subsequently wiped, but a copy was made by BBC cameraman John Henshall, who had utilised the then new fisheye lens camera techniques for the performance.

2, making it Bowie's biggest hit until that time; it was kept off the top spot by Little Jimmy Osmond's "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool".

[5] While biographer David Buckley has described it as "derivative, plodding, if undeniably catchy",[18] it remains one of Bowie's signature tunes and was often played at his concerts.

Upon release of the single in the U.S., Record World found the song "disappointing", saying that "Bowie, usually a master of melody and dynamics, has used an ancient riff on this more rhythmic number.

[10][20] The Sweet's single, written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, and recorded and released slightly later than Bowie's song, made No.

And then he got up and gave me a hug and said, 'Congratulations...'"[5] "The Jean Genie" has appeared on lists ranking Bowie's best songs by Uncut (11),[21] The Guardian (19),[22] NME (33),[23] Mojo (64) and Consequence of Sound (67).

One such version, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 3 July 1973, featured Jeff Beck on guitar and incorporated "Love Me Do" by the Beatles and "Over Under Sideways Down" by the Yardbirds.

[29][30] During the 1976 Isolar Tour, the song was used as the final encore, extending into lengthy guitar jams, false endings and ad-libbed vocals.