Since the 1980s, country music has seen some pretty great mullets. Even when Keith Urban played shows in Australia in his early days before he came to America, he sported a mullet. Other country singers over the years sported mullets, including Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt, Toby Keith, and even Vince Gill.
According to The Guardian, the phrase “mullet” did not come from country music origins. Mullett websites generally credit the coining of this phrase to Mike D of the Beastie Boys. This came from the song “Mullet Head” on 1994’s Ill Communication album, which described the haircut and those who wore it.
The hairstyle was first worn by French fashion guru Henri Mollet in the early seventies. The “Mollet” did not see much light apart from the french underground dance scene.
We count down what we believe are the top five country music mullets of all time.
5 - Garth Brooks - 1994 Superbowl
It’s hard to imagine Garth being a mullet guy, but in the early 1990s, when he sang the National Anthem at the Superbowl, he sported a mullet.
4 - Billy Ray Cyrus - All through the 1990s
Billy Ray seemed to bring the country mullet to a crazed frenzy as he proudly wore it during his most significant years in country music in the mid-1990s. When you think of a mullet in country music, he is the first image many minds see.
3 - Tim McGraw - Mid-1990s
Yeah, Tim rocked the mullet when he first came into country music in the early 1990s and set the world on fire with “Indian Outlaw” in 1994.
2 - Morgan Wallen - Brought it back in the 2020s
Morgan seems to have brought the mullet back to country music after a ten-year lull in the hairstyle, and we love him for it.
1 - Blake Shelton - Mullet icon in the early 2000s
When he donned a fake mullet for the video of his song “No Body” in 2022, it brought everyone back to his early career when his big beautiful mullet was worn proudly on his first couple of album covers.
