Glam / Sleaze / Theatrical Rock
familyStarted 1971Peak 1972-1984Last big hit still active
Rock built on spectacle as much as riffs: glitter, makeup, platform boots, gender-bending costume and outsized stage personas. Stomping four-on-the-floor beats, sing-along chants, fuzzy crunch guitars and falsetto choruses sit beside art-school irony, horror theatrics and arena pyro. Hooks are huge, image is the message.
History
Emerged in early-70s Britain as T. Rex and David Bowie pushed androgyny and sequins onto Top of the Pops, then spread through chant-pop glitter acts, art-school provocateurs and US shock spectacles. Its DNA fed punk, new wave and, in the 80s, the hair/sleaze metal explosion on the Sunset Strip. Image-first showmanship keeps it alive.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glam_rock
- https://www.britannica.com/art/glam-rock
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/glam-rock-ma0000002612