Glam metal | |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Late 1970s and early 1980s, Los Angeles and New York City |
Typical instruments | |
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Glam metal (also known as hair metal and often used synonymously with pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal which features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, and borrows from the fashion of 1970s glam rock.
Glam metal can be traced back to music acts like Alice Cooper, Boston, Cheap Trick, Kiss, The New York Dolls, and Van Halen. It arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene, pioneered by bands such as Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot, Stryper, Bon Jovi, and Dokken. It was popular throughout the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, bringing to prominence bands including Poison, Skid Row, Cinderella, and Warrant. Glam metal was associated with flashy clothing and makeup. Poison, for example, had long shaggy or backcombed hair, accessories, metal studs, leather and make-up during their live performances.
Glam metal lost mainstream interest in the early 1990s as the perceived excesses of glam metal created a backlash against the genre. A factor in the decline of glam metal was the rise of grunge in the early 1990s, which had a stripped-down aesthetic and a complete rejection of the glam metal visual style. Glam metal has enjoyed a revival since the late 1990s with reunions of many popular acts from the genre's 1980s heyday, as well as the retro styling of newer bands including The Darkness from the United Kingdom and Steel Panther from Los Angeles.