In a strange pop-cultural coincidence, not one, but two recent TV shows have fixated on the spandex-clad, bouffant-heavy subgenre known as hair metal. Firstly, Paramount+ gave Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock’s uncensored history of the genre, Nöthin’ But A Good Time, the three-part documentary treatment. And then Peacock based its supernatural comedy-drama Hysteria around the Satanic panic, that crazy era when the music of hair metal icons Warrant, Twisted Sister, and Mötley Crüe was deemed to be the gateway to the Devil.
Of course, there’s a reason why both shows are rooted firmly in the 1980s. From the moment MTV showed a bunch of kids pogoing to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, the game was up. Authenticity trumped extravagance. Lighters in the air, power ballads, guitar pyrotechnics, and hedonistic hijinks that defined the previous decade were immediately dismissed as cornball relics of a bygone age. Toward the end of the ‘90s, even KISS, the undisputed forefathers of hair metal, had succumbed to angst-ridden rock and, even more improbably, flannel shirts.
But after more than a decade in the musical wilderness, hair metal (also known as glam metal) enjoyed something of a revival, albeit one that appeared to be couched in multiple layers of irony.
The Darkness, for instance, won three BRIT Awards in 2004 and nearly scooped the UK’s coveted Christmas number one with a catsuit-friendly brand of rock that drew upon both the excesses of '80s metal and the theatricality of ‘70s glam. Steel Panther scored three consecutive US Top 40 albums pretending to be a long-lost band from the Sunset Strip’s golden age of rock. And everything from the Broadway musical Rock of Ages to the blockbuster productions of Swedish pop hitmaker and former hair metaler Max Martin (Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl", Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off") leaned into the style’s affinity for the larger-than-life.
Martin’s fellow Scandinavians have also leaned heavily into the style since the early ‘00s. Hair metal revival bands Reckless Love, Crazy Lixx, and Crashdiet have racked up millions of streams, in turn inspiring a new generation to pick up their air guitars and cans of voluminous hairspray.
None more so than Sweden’s Wildness, whose 2020 sophomore Ultimate Demise was hailed by Crazy Lixx frontman Danny Rexon as one of the best hair metal albums of the 21st century. Its lead single “Cold Words,” a prime example of applying elements of album-oriented rock (AOR), has accrued over 800k Spotify plays, proving the bygone niche can still reach a wider audience.
Then there’s the Swedish quintet Nestor who, with five tracks on Spotify boasting over a million plays, reward their commitment to the cause. The band launched their career as an AOR act in 1989 (during the tail end of hair metal’s imperial phase) but split soon after. However, in the wake of the new wave, they resurrected in 2021 with a mission to “protect the legacy and re-invent the iconography of rock.”
Said iconography appears to mean deliberately channeling the era when MTV was dominated by androgynous axe-wielders. The time-traveling video for “On The Run” literally sends them back to the late ‘80s in a Volvo 240 GLE.
Although bands like Nestor are strongest in their home nation of Sweden, with the Scandinavian accounting for almost 50% of their estimated audience, the hair metal scene is still gathering momentum across the globe. From India’s Girlish and the Chronicles and Australia’s Dangerous Curves to Chile’s Exxocet and Germany’s Devicious. Meanwhile, the Italian record label Frontiers Music, home to acts both established (Tesla, L.A. Guns) and emerging (Creye, Passion), has positioned itself as its most dominant label.
The birthplace of heavy metal, The UK, has also spawned a whole host of revivalists. British rock vocalist Chez Kane is certainly proud to be extending hair metal’s lineage, citing her fellow women in the scene like Lita Ford, Vixen, and Heart in their bombastic power ballad era as key inspirations. “I feel like people can categorize the music however they want,” she told Hard Rock Haven while promoting the 2021 Rexon-produced self-titled debut album that’s spawned two songs with Spotify stream counts north of 500k.
Led by hair metal journeyman Rob Wylde (Teenage Casket Company, Tigertailz), Midnite City has been one of the most prolific new acts on the block, releasing four albums since forming in 2017. “It’s the ultimate eighties’ hair metal band,”claims Wylde, who, having spent his childhood immersed in Kerrang! and Metal Edge magazines, has been waiting decades for the opportunity to strut his stuff. “In the early 2000s, the hair metal thing was dinosaur music. Thankfully, there has been some sort of resurgence for it, which we’ve jumped on board with.”
The Struts, on the other hand, don't seem to be as enamored about being lumped in with new hair metal: guitarist Adam Slack insists it “was never really my thing.” Yet having covered “Do You Love Me” by Def Leppard prototype Girl, professed a love of The Darkness (“In Love with a Camera” is practically a retread of “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”), and supported Mötley Crüe (the notorious wildmen of all people even told them to tone down their hard-partying), he is still managing to sustain the sound and spirit of the culture, whether intentionally or not.
Although The Struts’ sound also incorporates ‘60s rock, ‘70s blues, and mid-’00s indie sleaze, it’s hard to deny hair metal’s influence on the likes of “Rockstar,” “Mary Go Round,” and “I Hate How Much I Want You.” It’s perhaps this collage of retro references that’s helped the Derbyshire quartet garner more than 1.1 million followers across various social media platforms, with Spotify accounting for over a third.
Still, The Struts resemble fully paid-up hair metal fan club members compared to Dirty Honey, the Los Angeles rockers who, despite their protests, have become synonymous with the scene. “I hate ’80s hair metal with a passion,” lead singer Marc Labelle once remarked, despite the fact their very first gig was on Sunset Strip, they’ve toured with Guns N’ Roses, and their most-played Spotify track “When I’m Gone” (22m) sounds like a lost cut from Appetite for Destruction.
Although no longer hair metal’s epicenter, LA is still spawning its fair share of enthusiasts. Classless Act are fast becoming the most high-profile, partly because drummer London Hudson is descended from metal royalty – his father is the one and only Slash – and partly because they’ve recorded material with both Justin Hawkins and Vince Neil. Motor Sister also has a nepo-baby in the shape of vocalist Pearl Aday, a self-confessed “dyed in the wool” hair metaller who just happens to be the daughter of the late Meat Loaf. And Them Evils have racked up three million Spotify plays with “Where Ya Gonna Crash Tonight,” an ode to the tour bus lifestyle which suggests the scene hasn’t abandoned its decadent origins.
Thankfully, the rampant sexism that stained the first wave has been left firmly in the past. Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag, whose full-throttle rock sound also takes in punk, power pop, and garage rock, are one of several acts who’ve acknowledged how hair metal’s history is problematic. Yet as lead guitarist Kyle Seely told Fader, its present and future are now much more progressive. “I love hair metal as a genre. I think you can like hair metal and hate being a piece of s***.”
One only has to look at the positive response to Sonja to see how far the genre has come. The Philadelphian outfit is fronted by Melissa Moore, who was kicked out of her previous black metal band Absu for coming out as trans. “We had to cross a bridge and blast through a gate and I hope it’s the beginning of a process,” she told Decibel about how her newer band have asserted themselves in such a predominantly heteronormative arena. “Its subversion makes it purer.”
So, is there any chance of hair metal penetrating the mainstream once again? Well, there have been a few encouraging signs of it edging toward its fringes. Named after a fetish porn star renowned for hurting men in their nether regions, Atlanta outfit Kickin Valentina reached five different Billboard charts with their second album Imaginary Creatures.
Hollywood director James Gunn’s subversive superhero series Peacemaker has elevated hair metal as Guardians of the Galaxy did for classic AM rock. “Being able to give that music that’s so out of fashion in America a chance to shine a little bit is one of the fun things about this show,” creator James Gunn told podcast Podly about the Peacemaker soundtrack which combines classic acts (The Quireboys, Hanoi Rocks) with their 21st-century successors.
The Cruel Intentions are one of several outfits who’ve significantly benefited from Gunn’s exposure. “Jawbreaker,” “Borderline Crazy,” and “Sick Adrenaline” have all passed 1 million Spotify plays since featuring on the show and the official Peacemaker playlist (147k likes). Their monthly listenership, meanwhile, has shot up from 9k to 38k, and they’ve received a million more YouTube channel views, too.
Interestingly, the Eurovision Song Contest, an event not previously renowned for its devil horn hand salutes, has arguably been most instrumental in putting hair metal back on the global map in recent years. Italy’s 2021 victors Måneskin, by far the competition’s most successful export having picked up a Best New Artist Grammy nod in 2023, are self-confessed connoisseurs of hair metal stalwarts Skid Row: you can hear the LA hellraisers’ influence in their winning entry “ZITTI E BUONI.” Australia’s Voyager, Germany’s Lord of the Lost, and Finland’s The Rasmus have all since flown the flag for the genre with varied results.
“It was one of the loudest, craziest times and scenes of music,” Nöthin But A Good Time director Jeff Tremaine recently remarked about the original wave he documented. “But it's an era that probably won't happen again.” Sure, hair metal’s imperial phase may be decades behind us. However, for a new breed of Sunset Strip acolytes, hairmageddon may still be on the horizon.
Edited by Harry Levin, cover image by Crasianne Tirado
