For some reason, rock stars like writing about young or even underage girls.
“She was just 17, you know what I mean,” The Beatles sang in “I Saw Her Standing There.”
“Girls of fifteen (Sexually knowing),” The Who intone on “5:15”
“Said you dug me since you were thirteen/ When you giggle as you heave and sigh,” Led Zeppelin stated on “Sick Again,” a song about teenage groupies.
“Well, I don’t care if you’re just thirteen/ You look too good to be true,” moral crusader Ted Nugent crooned on “Jailbait.”
There are countless other examples. Heck, this trope is so commonplace that Spinal Tap made fun of it (“You’re sweet, but you’re just four feet / And you still got your baby teeth” on “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”).
It’s become such a ubiquitous and ever-present theme in rock music that the artists who sing or write such songs suffer little to no backlash.
But what happens if you act on those themes? Well, you end up like Gary Glitter.
Gary Glitter may not be the biggest name — especially in the United States where he’s seen as a one-hit wonder.
But what a hit it was!
At one point, you could not go to a sporting event anywhere in North America without hearing “Rock & Roll Part 2.” And in the unlikely event that there were no sporting contests happening that day, you can easily find a movie or show on TV that used it for a sports-related montage or choreographed dance number.
You probably know it as “the song where they just yell ‘Hey!’ a lot.” In fact, “Part 2” has become so popular and well-known, I actually didn’t know there was a version that had lyrics other than “hey” — maybe the fact that it was called “Rock & Roll Part 2” (as in, there had to be a “Rock & Roll Part 1) should have clued me in.
Anyway, like many foreign-based acts that were, essentially, one-hit wonders in the U.S., Glitter was much bigger in his home country. In the U.K., he has 19 Top 40 singles including four #1s and four #2s, the latter of which includes his debut single “Rock & Roll Part 1” and “Part 2.” (Another one of his #2 singles is 1973’s unfortunately titled “Do You Wanna Touch Me/ I Would If I Could, But I Can’t.” Man, that one is definitely harsher in hindsight.) His first 11 singles hit the Top 10 and nine of those songs were Top Four smashes.
He was more of a singles artist, so his albums didn’t sell as well. Nevertheless, his first two albums, Glitter (1972) and Touch Me (ugh, I mean 1973), hit the Top 10, with the former peaking at #2.
He was influential and famous — at least in the U.K., where he wasn’t quite on par with the likes of Elton John, David Bowie or Marc Bolan but was still an important figure in glam rock. Acts ranging from Joan Jett to Cee-Lo Green to The Sisters of Mercy have cited his artistry and sound as an inspiration, with Jett doing a well-received cover of “Do You Wanna Touch Me.” Later on, Oasis sampled some of Glitter’s lyrics on “Hello,” the opening track from their mega hit 1995 album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, a move that earned him even more in royalties.
Two years later, his career, life, and public image fell apart. Things began innocuously enough — in 1997, his computer broke down and he sent it in for repairs. Ordinarily, this would be no big deal for most people.
Unfortunately for Gary Glitter, a technician discovered child pornography on his hard drive and reported him to the authorities. Two years later, he pled guilty to downloading over 4,000 pornographic images of underage children and served four months in prison.
It could have been a lot worse for him — at around the same time, he was accused of sexual assaulting a 14 year-old girl. Glitter was acquitted, in large part, because the complainant sold her story to the tabloids, calling her credibility into question.
Despite escaping the more serious charges, Glitter’s career was pretty much D.O.A. at this point. His last studio album to date, 2001’s On, flopped, selling only 5,000 copies worldwide. Government officials went so far as to try and block its release, citing his conviction and jail sentence.
“I think it’s disgraceful that a convicted paedophile should be able to peddle his wares to young children, especially when young people are the biggest buyers of pop music,” Tom Watson, Labour MP for West Bromwich East said. “At worst, he should be handled with care, and at best he should be stopped from promoting and distributing his records.”
Feeling the heat, Glitter left the U.K. soon after his release from prison. He spent time in Cuba and Cambodia, among others, but never stuck around — according to the BBC, he left Cuba after his identity was discovered and was deported from Cambodia over child sex abuse allegations.
He found his way to Vietnam where he got into more trouble. In November 2005, he was arrested at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on multiple counts of child sex abuse while waiting to board an international flight to Bangkok. He was convicted of abusing two underage girls and served 27 months in prison before being deported back to the U.K.
Once home, it was clear that the only list this former chart topper had to be concerned about was the Sex Offenders Registry, which he was placed on for life. His music releases since 2001 have been mainly limited to compilations, live albums and reissues.
Despite that, Glitter held out hope for a comeback. And why not? Michael Jackson survived his 1993 child sex abuse scandal. Jerry Lee Lewis weathered an uproar over marrying his 13 year old cousin and managed to carve out a decent career for himself. R. Kelly had beaten his sex abuse case in 2008 had resumed his successful career. Surely, there was a way back for Gary Glitter?
Whatever hopes he had of a Lazarus-like resurrection ended thanks to another entertainer accused of widespread child sex abuse. In 2012, Jimmy Savile, a famous media personality and TV host was the subject of a 2012 ITV documentary featuring multiple allegations of child molestation. Savile hosted the influential music show Top of the Pops from 1964 to 1988 and Jim’ll Fix It, a show where he (ugh) granted wishes from children. And yes, Glitter performed multiple times on the former and appeared several times on the latter.
The ensuing fallout and investigation (named Operation Yewtree) snagged a number of high-profile individuals — most notably Glitter, who was charged in 2014 with 8 counts of child sex abuse against a 12 and 14 year-old girl. In fact, one of the alleged rapes took place in Savile’s dressing room at the BBC.
Glitter was convicted the following year of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was released in 2023 after serving about half of his sentence, but went back to prison after violating the terms of his release and is still there as of this writing.
The criminal courts aren’t the only part of the judicial branch he’s tangled with. He faced a slew of civil suits from his accusers and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2025 after failing to pay damages to one of his victims. You might be wondering how it’s possible that a money-making machine like “Rock & Roll Part 2” could cause Glitter to go broke. Turns out, he sold the song’s publishing royalties to Universal Music Group and the rights to the master recording to Snapper Music in 1997 — right before his legal woes started.
Plus, the song isn’t quite the money maker it used to be. Citing Glitter’s criminal convictions, several sports leagues and teams have banned “Rock & Roll Part 2” or replaced it with other songs. When the song was used in a memorable scene in the 2019 movie Joker, there was controversy over whether or not Glitter would get paid for it.
It shows how bad Glitter’s reputation has become that people actually worry about whether he deserves to have any kind of financial enrichment or windfall as the result of his music. It’s like when Guns N’ Roses recorded a Charles Manson single and people were upset at the prospect that he would profit off it (his songwriting royalties had been assigned to the family of one of his victims).
In 2005, his 1973 documentary, Remember Me This Way, was released on DVD. Named after one of his singles, the album title could have doubled as a plea from the one-time star for people not to associate him with his crimes and, instead, remember him for his music.
Good luck with that. Ike Turner could have told him how difficult a task that can be.
