17 Facts About Glam metal

Glam metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads.

Early glam metal evolved directly from the glam rock movement of the 1970s, as visual elements taken from acts such as T Rex, the New York Dolls, and David Bowie were fused with the decidedly more heavy metal leaning and theatrical acts such as Alice Cooper and Kiss.

Early glam metal bands include Motley Crue, Hanoi Rocks, Ratt, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi, and Dokken.

Glam metal achieved significant commercial success from approximately 1983 to 1992, bringing to prominence bands such as Poison, Skid Row, Cinderella and Warrant.

Glam metal suffered a decline in popularity in the early-mid 1990s, as the grunge and alternative phenomena revolutionized hard rock, and fans' tastes moved toward a more natural and stripped-down aesthetic and a rejection of the glam metal visual style.

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Glam metal has experienced a resurgence since the late 1990s, with successful reunion tours of many popular acts from the genre's 1980s heyday, as well as the emergence of new, predominantly European bands, including the Darkness, Crashdiet, Reckless Love, and American band Steel Panther.

Musically, glam metal combines a traditional heavy metal sound with elements of hard rock and punk rock, adding pop-influenced catchy hooks and guitar riffs.

The visual aspects of glam metal appealed to music television producers, particularly MTV, whose establishment coincided with the rise of the genre.

Glam metal performers became infamous for their debauched lifestyles of drugs, strippers and late-night parties, which were widely covered in the tabloid press.

Use of the derogatory term "hair Glam metal" started in the early 1990s, as grunge gained popularity at the expense of 1980s Glam metal.

Glam metal popularized a playing technique of two-handed hammer-ons and pull-offs called tapping, showcased on the song "Eruption" from the album Van Halen.

That same year saw a larger wave of heavy Glam metal albums achieve previously unheard of commercial success, with Motley Crue releasing its second album Shout at the Devil, Def Leppard releasing its third album Pyromania, and Kiss releasing Lick It Up.

Glam metal bands continued their run of commercial success in 1987 with Motley Crue releasing Girls, Girls, Girls, White Lion releasing Pride, and Def Leppard releasing Hysteria producing a hard rock record of seven hit singles.

Glam metal entered the 1990s as one of the major commercial genres of popular music, but such success would not continue for long; in 1990, debuts for Slaughter, from Las Vegas with Stick It to Ya and FireHouse, from North Carolina, with their eponymous album reached number 18 and number 21 on the Billboard 200 respectively, but it would be the peak of their commercial achievement.

The VH1 sponsored Rock Never Stops Tour, beginning in 1998, has seen many glam metal bands take to the stage again, including on the inaugural tour: Warrant, Slaughter, Quiet Riot, FireHouse, and L A Guns.

Glam metal experienced a partial resurgence around the turn of the century, due in part to increased interest on the Internet, with the successful Glam Slam Metal Jam music festival taking place in the summer of 2000.

Bands known for their metalcore background such as Black Veil Brides and Blessed by a Broken Heart have changed their style to be glam metal inspired, both musically and visually, with Black Veil Brides adding a gothic spin to the traditional glam image.