Hair Metal

Hair metal (also known as glam metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of glam rock with heavy metal. The term “hair metal” was popularised by MTV and derives from the tendency among most bands to style their long hair in a teased-up fashion. Hair metal bands were often referred to as “hair bands”.

Hair metal performers were infamous for their debauched lifestyles of late-night parties (widely covered in the tabloid press), very long teased hair (hence the "hair metal" tag), use of make-up and gaudy clothing, and accessories (tight denim or leather jeans, spandex and headbands). Many of these traits are somewhat reminiscent of glam rock, which first emerged in the United Kingdom during the early 1970s. However, the earlier groups of the genre also implemented some of the leather and studs imagery which had previously been made famous by heavy metal band Judas Priest.

In the early 1990s, hair metal's popularity declined rapidly after nearly a decade of success. Several factors played a role in the decline, the main one being the rise of grunge music from Seattle, which changed audience tastes, and the impacts of band breakups and personnel changes.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Glam metal".