On 14 February 1974, Bowie recorded a lip synced performance of "Rebel Rebel" at Hilversum's Avro Studio 2 for the Dutch television programme Top Pop.
Broadcast two days later, it featured Bowie superimposed over flashing disco lights "by the miracle of chromakey" and donning what Pegg called his short-lived "pirate image" – a spotted neckerchief and a black eye-patch.
Bowie later recalled:
I had conjunctivitis, so I made the most of it and dressed like a pirate.
Just stopped short of the parrot!
I had this most incredible jacket that I was wearing that night.
It was a bottle-green bolero jacket that Freddi [Burretti] made for me and he got an artist to paint, using the appliqué technique, this supergirl from a Russian comic on the back.
Anyway, I did a press conference and performed 'Rebel Rebel' on Dutch television with a bright red Fender Stratocaster.
But I took the jacket off during the press conference and somebody stole it.
I was really pissed off.

Following the performance, the pirate look, along with the Ziggy Stardust hairstyle, was ditched in favour of the "swept-back parting and double-breasted suits" of the Diamond Dogs Tour.
The Top Pop clip later became the song's semi-official video.

The song was a standard of Bowie's concerts from the Diamond Dogs Tour to the Sound+Vision Tour.
For his performance at Live Aid in 1985, Bowie performed a saxophone-heavy version.
After retiring the song on his Sound+Vision Tour in 1990, Bowie restored "Rebel Rebel" for the "Hours..." Tour.
In early 2003, he recorded a new version, featuring an arrangement by Mark Plati without the original's reference to quaaludes.
This was issued on a bonus disc that came with some versions of Reality the same year and on the 30th Anniversary Edition of Diamond Dogs in 2004.
In 2004 the track was blended in a mash-up with the Reality song "Never Get Old"; the result was issued as the single "Rebel Never Gets Old".

"We love David Bowie", commented Jane's Addiction front-man Perry Farrell in 2001. "
Given the length of his career, I'm stunned that he still pushes things musically.
But, please, please, David, can you sing 'Rebel Rebel' still?"

Live versions of the song by Bowie have been released on David Live (1974), A Reality Tour (2010), the 1988 Glass Spider DVD, the 2017 releases Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) and Live Nassau Coliseum '76, and the 2018 releases Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78), Glastonbury 2000, and Serious Moonlight (Live '83), which was part of the 2018 box set Loving the Alien (1983–1988).
On 14 February 1974, Bowie recorded a lip synced performance of "Rebel Rebel" at Hilversum's Avro Studio 2 for the Dutch television programme Top Pop. Broadcast two days later, it featured Bowie superimposed over flashing disco lights "by the miracle of chromakey" and donning what Pegg called his short-lived "pirate image" – a spotted neckerchief and a black eye-patch. Bowie later recalled:
I had conjunctivitis, so I made the most of it and dressed like a pirate. Just stopped short of the parrot! I had this most incredible jacket that I was wearing that night. It was a bottle-green bolero jacket that Freddi [Burretti] made for me and he got an artist to paint, using the appliqué technique, this supergirl from a Russian comic on the back. Anyway, I did a press conference and performed 'Rebel Rebel' on Dutch television with a bright red Fender Stratocaster. But I took the jacket off during the press conference and somebody stole it. I was really pissed off.
Following the performance, the pirate look, along with the Ziggy Stardust hairstyle, was ditched in favour of the "swept-back parting and double-breasted suits" of the Diamond Dogs Tour. The Top Pop clip later became the song's semi-official video.
The song was a standard of Bowie's concerts from the Diamond Dogs Tour to the Sound+Vision Tour. For his performance at Live Aid in 1985, Bowie performed a saxophone-heavy version. After retiring the song on his Sound+Vision Tour in 1990, Bowie restored "Rebel Rebel" for the "Hours..." Tour. In early 2003, he recorded a new version, featuring an arrangement by Mark Plati without the original's reference to quaaludes. This was issued on a bonus disc that came with some versions of Reality the same year and on the 30th Anniversary Edition of Diamond Dogs in 2004. In 2004 the track was blended in a mash-up with the Reality song "Never Get Old"; the result was issued as the single "Rebel Never Gets Old". 
"We love David Bowie", commented Jane's Addiction front-man Perry Farrell in 2001. "Given the length of his career, I'm stunned that he still pushes things musically. But, please, please, David, can you sing 'Rebel Rebel' still?"
Live versions of the song by Bowie have been released on David Live (1974), A Reality Tour (2010), the 1988 Glass Spider DVD, the 2017 releases Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) and Live Nassau Coliseum '76, and the 2018 releases Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78), Glastonbury 2000, and Serious Moonlight (Live '83), which was part of the 2018 box set Loving the Alien (1983–1988).
Rebel Rebel