Themullet is ahairstyle in which the hair is cut shorter at the front, top and sides, but is longer at the back.
According to theOxford English Dictionary, use of the termmullet to describe this hairstyle was "apparently coined, and certainly popularized, by American hip-hop group theBeastie Boys",[1] who used "mullet" and "mullet head" as epithets in their 1994 song "Mullet Head", combining it with a description of the haircut: "number one on the side and don't touch the back, number six on the top and don't cut it wack, Jack."[2] They expounded on the subject at length in a six-page article entitled "Mulling Over The Mullet" in Issue 2 (1995) of their magazineGrand Royal, offering a selection of alternative names for the cut, including "Hockey Player Haircut" and "Soccer Rocker".[3]
Although a widely circulated image from the Australian automotive magazineStreet Machine appeared to show the term in use as early as January 1992, the Oxford English Dictionary was unable to verify the authenticity of this citation.[4][5][6][7][8] On an episode ofSlate'sDecoder Ring podcast, Willa Paskin discussed the etymology of the term[9] and discovered that the magazine image had been faked. In a 2018 apology posted toimgur, the creator had admitted to faking the text and adjusting the magazine dates.[10]
HistorianSuetonius writes that the Roman emperorTiberius "wore his hair rather long at the back, so much so as even to cover the nape of his neck", and that this was a tradition of his family, theClaudians.[11] One bust of Tiberius's great-nephewCaligula has short locks across the forehead and longer hair behind.[12]
A metal figurine, dated back to the 1st-century CE and found during 2018 preparations for a new car park at theWimpole Estate, England, was hypothesised by archaeologists to indicate that natives in ancient Britain during theRoman occupation could have worn their hair similarly to mullets.[13]
In the sixth century,Byzantine scholarProcopius 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.[14][15]
Researcher Alan Henderson describes the ancient hairstyle as useful, as it kept the hair out of the eyes, yet provided warmth and protection for the neck.[16]
InMourt's Relation, authorEdward Winslow described thePlymouthpilgrims' first encounter with theNative Americans,Samoset of theAbenaki in 1621:
He was a tall straight man, the hair of his head black, long behind, only short before, none on his face at all; …
Some tribes inBorneo also have mullet hairstyles, including DayakKayan,Kenyah andIban.[citation needed]
Tom Jones sported a mullet in two of his three 1965 performances of his hit song "It's Not Unusual" onThe Ed Sullivan Show, May 2, 1965 and June 13, 1965.[18][19]
Mullets were worn by rock starsDavid Bowie,Rod Stewart,Keith Richards, andPaul McCartney in the early 1970s.[20][21] When writingNeil Peart's eulogy in January 2020, Greg Prato asserted Peart had a mullet, based on his observations of a 1974 video, further suggesting "he also may have been one of the first rockers to sport another hairstyle – therattail", based on a 1985 video, "The Big Money".[22]
In Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s, mullets were "everywhere", according to Tess Reidy writing atThe Guardian in 2019.[23] The 1980s were also the high point of the mullet's popularity incontinental Europe.[24] Chinese musicianCui Jian's mullet hairstyle became popular among young Chinese men in the 80s.[25][26]
Also in the1980s, the mullet became part oflesbian culture, where it came to be used as a way of identifying oneself as a member of that culture in public.[27][28][29][30]
After the much-publicized 1992DC Comics storyline in whichSuperman apparently died, the character returned to the 1993 follow-up storyline "Reign of the Supermen", in which he was depicted with a mullet.[31] The cancelled Superman film project,Superman Lives, would have depicted Superman with a mullet.[32]
Punk rock band theVandals sang of the mullets worn by country music singers and guests ofThe Jerry Springer Show and listed regional names for the style in the 1998 song "I've Got an Ape Drape".[33] In 1997, gay punk bandPansy Division released their single "Hockey Hair" in Vancouver, Canada about this hairstyle.
VocalistWesley Willis wrote and released the track "Cut the Mullet" in 1998 and frequently performed it at live shows.[34]
The 2001 filmAmerican Mullet documents the phenomenon of the mullet hairstyle and the people who wear it.[35]
The same yearUniversal Records (Canada) released the albumMullet Years: Power Ballads, a collection ofhard rock ballads.[36]
This hairstyle became popular with thebogan subculture in Australia and New Zealand.[37][38]
The mullet was banned inIran as one style on a list of "un-Islamic", "decadent Western cuts".[39][40]
The mullet was returned to the spotlight in 2015 byK-pop idolG-Dragon during his bandBIGBANG'sMade World Tour.[41]Baekhyun ofEXO also sported a mullet in promotion for the group's 2017 song "Ko Ko Bop". K-pop artists who have worn mullets includeBlock B'sZico,Song Min-ho,Nam Joo-hyuk,Dean,Stray Kids' Chan and Han,VIXX'sN,[42]B.A.P.'s Himchan,[43]Seventeen's Woozi and The8, andBTS'sV.[44]
The mullet has also experienced a revival withinAmerican sports. After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups,Phil Kessel was spotted in Pittsburgh Penguins training camp in September 2017 bringing the mullet back to its native roots of Pittsburgh hockey (Jaromír Jágr wore a mullet with the Penguins in the 1990s).[citation needed] Similarly,Oklahoma State head football coachMike Gundy wore a mullet starting in early 2017; the popularity of his mullet supposedly earned Oklahoma State millions of dollars in marketing revenue.[45] In addition, from 2010 to 2015,Patrick Kane of theChicago Blackhawks popularized the "playoff mullet," an alternative to the traditional NHLplayoff beard.[46] Then-Pittsburgh Steelers running backJames Conner began sporting a mullet in 2018, continuing theYinzer tradition of the hairstyle inWestern Pennsylvania.[47] The revival also extended to Australia in the late 2010s, with Australian soccer playerRhyan Grant becoming widely known for his mullet haircut to the point that it was included within the video gameFIFA 20.[48]
In September 2020,i-D called 2020 "the year of the mullet", attributing its boom in popularity toCOVID-19 lockdowns and the extended closure of hair salons.[49] In an article forVice Media, the mullet-wearing teenagers interviewed all described getting the haircut as a joke, with one stating "There's an irony to the mullet haircut. It's this disgustingly gross haircut, which means it's definitely worn in an ironic way".[50] Magda Ryczko, founder of a barbershop inBrooklyn, notes that mullets allow for a professional front-facing look for COVID-19 era Zoom meetings, while maintaining a messier, more fun look off-camera, when the longer back section of hair may be revealed.[51] An annual national USA Mullet Championship began in 2020.[52][53] The versatility of the taper fade has modernized the classic mullet, giving it a cleaner look.[54]
In July 2023, Mexican singerPeso Pluma attracted attention for his mullet style, a hairstyle that he adopted as his signature haircut during his stardom as a musical performer.[55] The singer confirmed that his hairstyle was originally a mishap, when he visited the city ofMedellín and his barber gave him a hairstyle that was "popular in Medellín", later realizing that it was not bad after filming a music video.[56][57]
58-year-old Tami Manis fromKnoxville, Tennessee was awarded aGuinness World Record for a 172.72 cm-long (68.00 in) mullet in August 2023, a result of not having her hair cut for 33 years.[58][59]
In September 2024, 26-year old Trevor Hyland, ofShrule inCounty Mayo, Ireland, gained the nickname "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Mullet" after finding himself representing Ireland in a Swiss competition to find the greatest example of the hairstyle. A win might see him representing Ireland at European level.[60]
In 2019,Kiefer Sutherland described himself as an unwitting instigator of the hairstyle, which he sported in the 1987 filmThe Lost Boys.[61] In 2022 press interviews marking the 35th anniversary of the film, Sutherland again recounted the story.[62][63]
A few years ago I saw a post on reddit about the origin of the word Mullet (the Beastie Boys have the first record of it being used according to the Oxford English Dictionary). I photoshopped a 1992 magazine I had laying around to make it look like it referred to the term Mullet before it was first used in print.... The above photo is the original un-photoshopped Street Machine issue I used, and photoshopped to be a mythical "Jan '92" issue with an edited article within that proved the use of the term Mullet before the beastie boys in 1994. It should be obvious to anyone involved in the OED appeals search that it's the same magazine as the photoshopped version (in one of the images below), and the search can stop and they can save any effort going forward.
David Bowie'sZiggy Stardust rocked a mullet, and so did Wings-era Paul McCartney.
he sported the mullet that Bowie would as Ziggy Stardust; cousin to the shag popularized byDavid Cassidy,Florence Henderson, and Rod Stewart. It almost looks cool in those early days, but when McCartney added the mustache ...
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