On the original cover of his album The Man Who Sold The World, Bowie appeared wearing a dress. Mercury rejected the cover for the US release, and it was replaced with a cartoon drawing, by an artist friend of Bowie's, of a cowboy holding a rifle with a shot-out clock tower behind him. Later, after the album was already released, this was replaced with a black and white picture of Ziggy. The album appeared with different cover art in other countries. All the covers appear in the 1990 Ryko/EMI re-release.

The album failed to chart in both the US and the UK and didn't sell very well, so Mercury let him go.

After Bowie broke through commercially with Ziggy, Mercury re-released the album in November 1972. This time, the album sold better, spending 22 weeks on the UK charts (peaking at #26), and 23 weeks on the US charts (peaking at #105).

In 1983, to cash in on the new global mass audience "Let’s Dance" had garnered for Bowie, the album was again re-released, and spent a further 8 weeks on the UK charts (peaking at #64).

In 1990, Ryko/EMI re-released the album on CD, including bonus tracks Moonage Daydream and Hang Onto Yourself which had originally been released as a single under the name Arnold Corns in 1971. While the name was inspired by David's favourite Pink Floyd song Arnold Layne, the group itself never really existed. In publicity photos Bowie appeared alongside dress designer Freddi Buretti, who was supposedly the group's lead singer and a discovery of David's. Both of these songs were later reworked for the Ziggy Stardust album.

The 1990 Ryko/EMI re-release included two further bonus tracks, Lightning Frightning and Holy Holy. In spite of what the Rykodisc release notes say, the version of Holy Holy included here is in fact the 1973 Spiders remake featured on the B side of the single Diamond Dogs. The original version can be picked up on the bootleg album Changesthreeandahalf.

The 1990 EMI re-release spent one week on the UK charts, at #66.