In antiquity Historian
Suetonius writes that the Roman emperor
Tiberius "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, the
Claudians. One bust of Tiberius's great-nephew
Caligula has short locks across the forehead and longer hair behind. A metal figurine, dated back to the 1st-century CE and found during 2018 preparations for a new car park at the
Wimpole Estate, England, was hypothesised by archaeologists to indicate that natives in ancient Britain during the
Roman occupation could have worn their hair similarly to mullets. In the sixth century,
Byzantine scholar
Procopius 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. 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.
Native America In ''
Mourt's Relation'', author
Edward Winslow described the
Plymouth pilgrims' first encounter with the Native Americans,
Samoset of the
Abenaki in 1621:
Native Borneo with a mullet hairstyle Some tribes in
Borneo also have mullet hairstyles, including Dayak
Kayan,
Kenyah and
Iban.
1960s Tom Jones sported a mullet in two of his three 1965 performances of his hit song "
It's Not Unusual" on
The Ed Sullivan Show, 2 May 1965 and 13 June 1965.
1970s with a mullet in 1974 Mullets were worn by rock stars
David Bowie,
Rod Stewart,
Keith Richards, and
Paul McCartney in the early 1970s. When writing
Neil 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 – the
rattail", based on a 1985 video, "
The Big Money".
1980s In Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s, mullets were "everywhere", according to Tess Reidy writing at
The Guardian in 2019. The 1980s were also the high point of the mullet's popularity in
continental Europe. Chinese musician
Cui Jian's mullet hairstyle became popular among young Chinese men in the 80s. Also in the 1980s, the mullet became part of
lesbian culture, where it came to be used as a way of identifying oneself as a member of that culture in public.
1990s After the much-publicized 1992
DC Comics storyline in which
Superman apparently died, the character returned to the 1993 follow-up storyline "
Reign of the Supermen", in which he was depicted with a mullet. The cancelled Superman film project,
Superman Lives, would have depicted Superman with a mullet.
Punk rock band the
Vandals sang of the mullets worn by country music singers and guests of
The Jerry Springer Show and listed regional names for the style in the 1998 song "I've Got an Ape Drape". In 1997, gay punk band
Pansy Division released their single "Hockey Hair" in Vancouver, Canada about this hairstyle. Vocalist
Wesley Willis wrote and released the track "Cut the Mullet" in 1998 and frequently performed it at live shows.
2000s The 2001 film
American Mullet documents the phenomenon of the mullet hairstyle and the people who wear it. The same year
Universal Records (Canada) released the album
Mullet Years: Power Ballads, a collection of
hard rock ballads. This hairstyle became popular with the
bogan subculture in Australia and New Zealand.
2010s The mullet was banned in
Iran as one style on a list of "un-Islamic", "decadent Western cuts". The mullet was returned to the spotlight in 2015 by
K-Pop idol G-Dragon during his band
BIGBANG's
Made World Tour.
Baekhyun of
Exo also sported a mullet in promotion for the group's 2017 song "
Ko Ko Bop". K-pop artists who have worn mullets include
Block B's
Zico,
Song Min-ho,
Nam Joo-hyuk,
Dean,
Stray Kids'
Bang Chan and
Han,
VIXX's
N,
B.A.P.'s Himchan,
Seventeen's Woozi and The8, and
BTS's
V. The mullet has also experienced a revival within
American 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). Similarly,
Oklahoma State head football coach
Mike Gundy wore a mullet starting in early 2017; the popularity of his mullet supposedly earned Oklahoma State millions of dollars in marketing revenue. In addition, from 2010 to 2015,
Patrick Kane of the
Chicago Blackhawks popularized the "playoff mullet," an alternative to the traditional NHL
playoff beard. Then-
Pittsburgh Steelers running back
James Conner began sporting a mullet in 2018, continuing the
Yinzer tradition of the hairstyle in
Western Pennsylvania. The revival also extended to Australia in the late 2010s, with Australian soccer player
Rhyan Grant becoming widely known for his mullet haircut to the point that it was included within the video game
FIFA 20.
2020s In September 2020,
i-D called 2020 "the year of the mullet", attributing its boom in popularity to
COVID-19 lockdowns and the extended closure of hair salons. In an article for
Vice 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". Magda Ryczko, founder of a barbershop in
Brooklyn, 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. An annual national USA Mullet Championship began in 2020. The versatility of the taper fade has modernized the classic mullet, giving it a cleaner look. In July 2023, Mexican singer
Peso Pluma attracted attention for his mullet style, a hairstyle that he adopted as his signature haircut during his stardom as a musical performer. The singer confirmed that his hairstyle was originally a mishap, when he visited the city of
Medellín and his barber gave him a hairstyle that was "popular in Medellín", later realizing that it was not bad after filming a music video. 58-year-old Tami Manis from
Knoxville, Tennessee was awarded a
Guinness World Record for a mullet in August 2023, a result of not having the back of her hair cut for 33 years. In September 2024, 26-year-old Trevor Hyland, of
Shrule in County 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. In 2026, the modern mullet is recognized as a major men's hairstyle trend, characterized by hybrid variations that combine the traditional longer back with fades, tapers, and other contemporary haircut techniques. ==In popular culture ==