As much as the iconic songs the 80s rock bands are popular for, they are also remembered for their attire. Surely, we all know bands in the 80s would wear makeup, and grow long messy hair. Basically, the way they styled themselves was feminine. Although youngsters nowadays find it weird, it was really popular back in the day in fact people would love and admire bands for their style.
Judas Priest’s lead vocalist Rob Halford talked about the 80s styles and he also named two of the biggest and most influential glam rock bands of that time. Talking about styles back in the 80s, he said that the homophobic stuff back then made him wonder why guys would dress like girls. So what more did he say? find out more further in the article.
Two biggest glam rock bands according to Rob Halford
Halford said that Mötley Crüe and Poison are the biggest and most influential glam rock bands. Furthermore, he also credited Cinderella and a few other bands. In an interview with UCR Halford said, “When you think about the glam rock movement, what it was, specifically, two bands that really pushed that for me were Mötley Crüe and Poison. And, to some effect, Cinderella, maybe some Winger, L.A. Guns. There was a lot of stuff coming through at that moment in the glam rock era.”
He then talked about how the 80s style made him puzzled and worried. He mentioned Sebastian Bach and said that even guys looked like girls and it was okay even though homophobic stuff was going on in the 80s. And it is understandable why he was puzzled, he is gay which he would not reveal until 1998.
He also said the same thing in the interview, “I could never quite figure that out, because of the homophobic stuff that was going on in the ’80s. And there’s all these guys with makeup on, looking … I have to watch my words here, but you know what I’m saying? Looking in a specific way, that everybody else is like, ‘Yeah, man, they’re really hardcore,’ and all that kind of stuff.”
Furthermore, he revealed how worried he was, he did not know how to come out. There were several things that he was worried about but he was mostly fearing for his career as he thought that he would lose his band if he come out. He said, “Am I missing something here? How am I not able to come out for fear of losing my career and my band, but these guys are going out there looking like they do, and everybody’s falling over them?”
He then mentioned how amazing glam rock was, he said that most bands look and dressed a certain way. Well, there are still some people who find it hard to come out as who they truly are just like how hard it was for Rob to come out back then. The feminine style confused him and he was also worried about how the world would react if he come out as gay.
However, he managed to come out as gay and publicly announced his homosexuality back in 1988 on MTV. He said that he is free now after the announcement with tears all over his face. He was really happy he could come out as he was. Furthermore, he thought that he would lose his fanbase after the announcement. Talking about his sexuality he has also mentioned that it was really difficult to come out as gay back in the 1970s and 80s. However, he also agreed that it was the greatest thing he could have done for him.
