 | ||
The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides and long in the back.
Contents
Etymology
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, use of the term mullet to describe this hairstyle was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by U.S. hip-hop group the Beastie Boys", who used "mullet" and "mullet head" as epithets in their 1994 song "Mullet Head". Since the term "mullet head" had been previously used to refer to a person of dubious intelligence, e.g. as in the movie "Coolhand Luke," the term only short for "mullet head", and is almost certainly derogatory.
Ancient mullets
In the sixth century, Byzantine scholar Procopius wrote that some factions of young males wore their hair long at the back and cut it short over the forehead. This non-Roman style was termed the 'Hunnic' look.
1970s
Mullets were sported by rock stars Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, and Paul McCartney as far back as the early 1970s.
1980s
The zenith of the mullet's popularity in 1980s continental Europe has been described as an "age of singing tattooed Swedish Flokati Rugs".
1990s
After the much-publicized 1992 DC Comics storyline in which Superman apparently died, the character returned in the 1993 follow-up storyline, "Reign of the Supermen" in which he was depicted with a mullet. He remained with that hairstyle until 1997, and this look was depicted in an action figure released by Mattel in 2009.
Punk rock band The Vandals sang of the mullets worn by country music singers and guests of The Jerry Springer Show, and listed regional names for the style in the 1998 song "I've Got an Ape Drape".
Country music singers Billy Ray Cyrus, Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, and Joe Diffie were also known for their mullets.
Vocalist Wesley Willis wrote and released the track "Cut the Mullet" in 1998, and frequently performed it at live shows.
2000s
The mullet and its associated lifestyle have been central themes in movies such as Joe Dirt "business in the front, party in the back" (2001), and the television show The Mullets (2003–2004). Christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy sang about the mullet in "The Phantom Mullet," a song off of their 2000 album All the Hype That Money Can Buy, referencing Billy Ray Cyrus and REO Speedwagon in the lyrics. The 2001 film American Mullet documents the phenomenon of the mullet hairstyle and the people who wear it.
Indie rock duo Tegan and Sara sported mullets during their The Con album era. Tom O'Neill, famed hair stylist and underwriting thief, was also known to sport the mullet hairstyle in the early 2010s.
Between 2006 and 2008, the mullet was in fashion among individuals of Lebanese descent in Australia. The style had already been popular with the bogan subculture. The fashion trend quickly waned by late 2009. This was the type of a mullet which had a crew cut at the front, top and sides, and long hair at the back.
In the United States of the 1980s, the mullet became popular within lesbian culture, where it came to be used as a way of identifying oneself as a member of that culture in public.