21 worst haircuts in rock

1
La Roux (elly jackson)

Quiff enthusiasts are reeling from the news, reported by The Sun, that La Roux is thinking about chopping off her trademark Tintin-esque ‘do’. Is it such a bad idea, though? Her dilemma inspired us to assemble the following bad hair hall of shame…

2
 

Darwin Deez might have been a hit on the NME Radar Tour, but his curly mop makes him resemble a cross between a cocker spaniel and a hanging basket.

3
Kerrang! Day of Rock – Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street

Towers Of London – these faux-punk desperadoes all had pretty shocking hair, but the main offender was drummer Snell (far left), who always had the dishevelled look of Van Halen’s Dave Lee Roth after waking up in a skip.

Advertisement

4
 

Who could forget Carter USM’s Jim Bob, whose straggly fringe came to symbolise all that was wrong with guitar music in the unglamorous, pre-Britpop age. He’s a writer these days, having just published his debut novel, ‘Storage Stories’. You can even follow him on Twitter, if you like.

5
 

Some haircuts are so hideous, just looking at them fills you with uncontrollable rage. Toploader’s Joe Washbourn has just such a haircut. His band are apparently recording new material for release in 2010 – so that’s one more reason to leave the country permanently.

6
 

Phil Spector: “If I’d known this picture would get used so often, I’d have had a haircut before the court case.”

7
 

Keith Flint’s wild-eyed stage persona could never be quite as scary as this floppy catastrophe, which he sported circa 2005. Part comb-over, part blond Hitler, there’s something chilling about it.

Advertisement

8
 

The Sex Pistols’ John Lydon, back in the days when he apparently took his style cues from Beaker from The Muppets.

9
 

Poor old Flock Of Seagulls – the only thing anyone remembers about these ’80s rockers is singer Mike Score’s flicky-uppy hairdo. It’s no surprise to learn that the guy was a hairdresser before joining the band, although we wonder how many unsuspecting customers he did this to.

10
 

The tragic decline of Axl Rose. Once he was a lithe, snake-hipped gutter-punk on top of the world. These days he looks like the kind of bloke you see playing Poi behind a dented VW camper van at Glastonbury.

11
 

Ryan Jarman’s abysmal pudding bowl hairdo is one of the mysteries of modern indie. You’re tempted to say it looks like his mum cut it – if that wasn’t such a massive insult to his mum.

Advertisement

12
 

Remember Jas Mann of Babylon Zoo? His trademark ‘badger stripe’ was popular in 1995, during the eight day window between Babylon Zoo being completely unknown, and roundly despised.

13
 

The Melvins’ Buzz Osbourne. If Sideshow Bob started a punishingly heavy sludgecore band, he’d look and sound a lot like this bloke.

Advertisement
Advertisement