List of Hair Metal Bands of the '80s

1980's hair bands

The name has become synonymous with 80s hair bands, but you’ll only hear them on select rock radio stations. That’s right, hair bands ruled the 1980s with flamboyant and over-the-top fashion. You literally couldn't escape the sounds of these bands, who happened to reign supreme on the radio waves. The heavy guitars and angst-filled lyrics of grunge bands like Nirvana were a stark contrast to the slick, over-the-top sound of glam metal. The origins of glam metal can be traced back to the late 1970s when bands such as Kiss and Aerosmith began incorporating elements of glam rock into their music. Speculations surround the name without anyone having a clue of what the abbreviation means.

Mötley Crüe

Under the Blade (1982) and You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll (1983) positioned these local Long Island legends to conquer pop culture and, with 1984’s Stay Hungry, that’s just what Dee Snider and the boys did. By then, headbangers bitched about BJ plenty, but there’s still no denying the pop-metal mastery inherent in those Bon Jovi’s smashes that made the whole thing possible in the first place. After Slippery When Wet overtook every form of mass communication in 1986, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and their cohorts scaled unprecedented peaks of hair-metal mega-stardom. Aside from their incendiary body of recorded work and legendary live shows, Blackie Lawless and the boys made U.S. history by scandalizing the PMRC.

Hollywood Rose

1980's hair bands

The band’s 1989 album, Dr. Feelgood, hit number one on the charts, cementing their place in rock history. Big (long) hair, mullets, and tight pants were all the rage in the 1980s thanks to the big hair metal bands. These groups brought glam metal music to the mainstream and helped make it one of the most popular genres of the decade. 80s metal bands are often referred to as "hair bands" because of their distinctive appearance, which was characterized by flamboyant clothing, heavy makeup, and most notably, big hair. Many of the bands from this era, such as Bon Jovi, Poison, and Motley Crue, had members with long, teased hair that was styled in a way that drew attention to their appearance.

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Nevertheless, Pretty Boy Floyd was a band frequently seen on MTV back in the glory days of the channel. The group’s 1989 song, Fly To The Angels, charted within the top 20 in the US. Unfortunately, the group never quite experienced the same success, despite being active throughout most of the 90s. Despite their age, KISS is still loved and enjoyed widely around the world. In a way, every member of Mötley Crüe essentially became a celebrity in their own right.

Mullet Brings The 80s Hair Band Music To Milford - Patch

Mullet Brings The 80s Hair Band Music To Milford.

Posted: Wed, 06 Mar 2019 08:00:00 GMT [source]

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Except that “Kiss Me Deadly,” the breakthrough Lita Ford hit from which those sentiments come, was a huge thing. She loves to visit thrift and secondhand shops for treasures from the 80s. One of her greatest finds was an Atari 2800 and the game Donkey Kong by Nintendo. She’s currently working on a fictional tale about a lovelorn, single woman who meets the man of her dreams on a cruise ship.

The importance and impact of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” on ’80s rock in general and on glam metal in particular simply can not be over-shouted. Skid Row confirmed that they were metal first and glam maybe not at all anymore with Slave to the Grind in 1991. The same year Nirvana’s Nevermind is thought to have instantly and permanently put all hair-bands to pasture, Slave to the Grind debuted at #1.

The band’s original lineup consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The hair band’s original lineup consisted of Tom Keifer (lead vocals, guitar), Eric Brittingham (bass guitar), Michael Smerick (guitar), and Tony Destra (drums). The band’s original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Marq Torien, guitarist Mick Sweda, bassist Lonnie Vencent, and drummer Jimmy D’Anda. Their lead singer, Ian Astbury, often sported long hair and wore leather clothing and jewelry, which were typical fashion choices for hair bands of the era. Sure, the music is different, but both have a similar fashion and helped define the formative years of many people.

Decade of Decadence: A Timeline of the Eighties Sunset Strip - Rolling Stone

Decade of Decadence: A Timeline of the Eighties Sunset Strip.

Posted: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 07:00:00 GMT [source]

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The band signed a "cessation of touring" contract that year, with a vow that they'd never tour again. Over the years, continued turmoil within the band resulted in two touring versions of Ratt, one with frontman Stephen Pearcy and another with drummer Bobby Blotzer. Pearcy released two more albums under the Ratt name with original guitarist Warren DeMartini—Ratt in 1999, followed by the 2010 release, Infestation. The only female rockers on the hair metal list, the era of makeup and glam was surprisingly dominated by more male bands. One look at the cover of Poison’s 1986 debut, Look What the Cat Dragged In, shows a portrait of four stunning women—three blondes and a brunette. A quick glance may have fooled the unsuspecting eye with the band’s Bret Michaels, C.C. Deville, Bobby Dall, and Rikki Rockett made up more glamorous than most women.

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In any other era they might’ve just been labeled “hard rock,” but at some point somebody came up with the probably pejorative term “hair-metal,” and the name stuck. As did the music, at least through the rest of the decade — and most of it grew increasingly prettified and prefabricated, until it didn’t. Cinderella is another Pennsylvania hair band, forming around the same time and location as Poison. Their 80s albums were glam rock, reaching triple platinum status and soaring to the top of the Billboard charts.

The band’s first two albums were heavy metal, but by their third release in 1985, they had a glam sound to match their over-the-top teased hair and rock clothing style. They released five albums in the 80s and produced two in the 90s and two in the 2000s. The band’s high-energy performances, with their catchy songs and hard-edged sound, helped them become one of the most successful hair bands of the 80s. Finnish rock band formed in 1979, in Helsinki, by Michael Monroe and Andy McCoy was one of the most successful rock bands of the ’80s, and the first one to tour Asia. This cult band gained commercial success and was critically acclaimed worldwide.

Twisted Sister’s music and image helped define the hair metal era of the 1980s, and they were one of the most successful bands of that time. As far as hair bands are concerned, no other band had the pop success that Guns N’ Roses had. It’s the sole reason why fans would wait 15 years for the band to release a lackluster (but hyped) album. Grunge music emerged as a new force in the music industry, and hair metal bands were unable to compete. While frontman Dee Snider doesn't think Twister Sister is hair metal, we're going to include them in this list because, well, they are.

The band’s debut album topped to no. 84 on the VH1’s 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time list. Founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhodes and bassist Kelly Garni, it gained the 100th spot on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock list. A series of lineup changes and the Kevin DuBrow’s death, lead vocalist, led to a breakup only to be revived again by Frankie Banali―drummer.

It also remains one of their best-selling albums out of their entire catalog. That very story is what happened to guitarist Michael Kelly Smith with the band, Cinderella. The group would release 2 albums in the late 80s that would become smash hits, particularly with Long Cold Winter. During the late 1980s, Great White toured with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Guns N’ Roses. Even today, the band remains fairly active, which is a rare sight for an 80s hair band. There are few hair bands that have the reputation for excess that Mötley Crüe has.

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