The performer Robert Plant and David Bowie agreed defined glam: “He took it over the edge”
When you hear the phrase glam rock, two musicians immediately come to mind: T Rex’s captivating frontman, Marc Bolan, and the enigmatic David Bowie, who together encapsulated this idea of flamboyant performances that boldly removed gender from musical perception and instead celebrated a more androgynous approach.
“At that point in time, rock seemed to have wandered into some kind of denim hell,” Bowie recalled in 2003’s Moonage Daydream, photographer Mick Rock’s visual account of the rise of Ziggy Stardust, adding, “Street life was long hair, beards, leftover beads from the ’60s, and God forbid, flares were still evident. In fact, all was rather dull attitudinising with none of the burning ideals of the ’60s.”
The pair identified that and turned the other way, opting for glitter, bold colours, and outrageous silhouettes as opposed to the homogenised landscape of gruff denim. It was perhaps one of the first great examples of how styling can help translate a wider artistic message, allowing the expansive and mercurial worlds of the glam rock sound to be more accessible and coherent.
It also meant that when the clothing, make-up and vibrant colours were stripped away towards the latter end of the 1970s, the feeling of the genre could still remain, and suddenly, this new glamorous and ostentatious approach to gritty rock and roll had a place within the lexicon of culture, and largely, Bowie and Bolan were to thank for it.
In many ways, Robert Plant was a beneficiary of that; while his personal style was curated, it was more muted than the aforementioned pair, but his performative spirit embodied that sort of androgynous charm of the glam rock heroes, rooted in a sense of confidence afforded by not adhering to pre-existing rules and instead, feeling what was right for your own style.
So, while many would be quick to label Plant an important milestone in the lineage of glam rock and rock performance, he is keen to shed light on a predecessor of his, someone who took the spirit established by glam and took it into the world of rock opera: of course, I am talking about none other than Freddie Mercury.
Plant said, “There’s so few people behind the glamour who really make it as true performers. It’s a very strange thoroughbred condition to be a successful musician and still be able to project it with confidence. Freddie had that, and there’s not many people who have had it.”
Similarly to Plant, Bowie gave Mercury his seal of approval by building on the point of his confidence but taking it into a more glam-rock focused space. He said, “Of all the more theatrical performers, Freddie took it further than the rest. He took it over the edge. And of course I always admire a man who wears tights!”
By the time Mercury hit his stride in the 1980s, the world of glam Bowie and Bolan introduced, was long gone, but he had discovered a way to keep its spirit alive in the more relevant context of Queen’s rock opera, making him one of the greatest performers of all time.
