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MOST FAMOUS MULLETS IN ROCK

by: Chad Childers

Who owns the most famous mullet in rock? It’s a tough question, because for decades now, some of music’s biggest stars have been rocking the two-tiered “business up front / party in the back” hairstyle.

Although it is mocked at least as often as it’s actually sported nowadays, the mullet (or if you prefer, the “Mississippi Mudslide,” the ‘Tennessee Tophat,” the “Wisconsin Waterfall,” or the “Canadian Passport”) hasn’t fully gone away. We’ll look at some of the rockers who helped bring the look into style back in the day, from Ron Wood‘s long-standing spikey number to the permed mastery of Van Halen‘s members.

The mullet first began appearing in the mid-to-late ’60s, grew in popularity throughout the ’70s, and really became part of the pop lexicon by the ’80s. The term dates back to the late 1800s when Mark Twain, while not specifically referring to a haircut, stated that Tom and Huck were afraid of being caught “mullet-headed” by Aunt Polly in ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’ It would start to pick up steam after George Kennedy’s character used it several times in the 1967 film ‘Cool Hand Luke.’

So know you know your mullet history. Whaddya say we take a gander at some of rock’s most famous mullets?

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RON WOOD 

by: Chad Childers

Hulton Archive, Getty Images

Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood not only had the party going on in the back, but he had one of the more spikey up-fronts with his mullet.

Unlike a number of rockers who’ve grown out of the look with age, Wood has kept his hair near shoulder length in back, while the spikey jet-black hair remains. But there’s no hating on Wood because the mullet is only rock and roll, and we know he likes it.

…And so does the next person on our list, who as it turns out, is a former bandmate of Wood’s.

ROD STEWART 

by: Chad Childers

Central Press / Hulton Archive, Getty Images

In the ’70s, he may have been asking about his body and if you thought he was sexy, but what did you think about Rod Stewart‘s mullet? Back in the late ’60s and early ’70s, when the mullet was becoming in style, ‘Rod the Mod’ grew out his naturally spikey hair just beyond the shoulders while keeping the front rather Bowie-esque. But to quote one of his songs, you wear it well Rod.

These days, there’s less party going on up front, but the spikey look still makes him instantly recognizable. However his “droopy curtains” in the back are no longer as pronounced.

PAUL MCCARTNEY 

by: Chad Childers

Hulton Archive, Getty Images

Remember how everyone used to freak out over those clean-cut young Beatles and their haircuts? Well as the ’60s moved closer to the ’70s, those short haircuts grew out first into something more psychedelic and later into something, well, mullet-y.

For a majority of the ’70s and into the ’80s, Paul McCartney made the mullet his hair style of choice. During the ’70s, it was mostly straight and long, as he let his “Beaver Paddle” flap in the wind, but as the ’80s came about McCartney adopted his straightened locks to a more permed style.