Month: February 2010

I am slightly curious as to why many rockstar’s have such great hair and i can never tell if their hairlins is juvenile. I dont suppose you can tell me what class is Ian Watkins from lostprophets (Rock band) hairline appears to be?

To me it looks low at the middle but thinning on the sides? This man has always had a great head of hair and i dont think he is balding..just on this picture particularly it made me wonder though.
Photo: Ian Watkins

Thank you very much for your time Doc.

I looked at the photo of Ian Watkins, but it’s difficult to tell from one angle like that. I then used Google to try to find more photos, but all of the ones I see have his hair longer and covering the hairline. So truth be told, from the photo you sent it looks like a typical mature hairline, but I really don’t know for sure. I doubt he’s got any balding beyond that. He’s got good hair.

As for why rockstars have great hair, well, it is part of the image. There are always going to be musicians that have hair loss, but many of them will shave their heads bald, wear hats, take unique approaches to styling, or go the surgical route to restore their hair. I’ve performed transplants on musicians that want to keep the look their fans are accustomed to. Many record labels are more willing to sign a band if they have the image that goes with the marketable sound.

A guy like Art Garfunkel (of Simon and Garfunkel) probably would have a tough time getting signed on his own in today’s music business, but a rocker like American Idol runner-up Chris Daughtry can shave his head and be just fine. I’d imagine if Daughtry grew his hair out and showed off his thinning hair, it could make him appear older than he is and thus would not be easy to market in the way the record label wants to. Some other musicians have long hair that falls forward, covering the corners of their hairline and giving the illusion of a young, juvenile hairline. Then there are artists like Moby, who shaves his head but leaves just enough growth to see that there isn’t much hair there at all. Different looks work for different types of artists. It’s all about the marketing.

Update: Actually, TMZ says that Daughtry is growing his hair out now, but we’ll see what his scalp looks like when its time for an official photo shoot or when he’s making a music video.

Snippet from the article:

Sure, two of the most badass actors of recent American cinema — Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson — opted to shave their heads before they went bald naturally.

But there are still plenty of successful men out there who resist the pressure to mask their hair loss, and the best among them are proudly rocking power alleys.

What the heck are power alleys, you ask? Just check out Jackson and Willis’s matching hairlines in “Die Hard With a Vengeance”. In 1995, they could have been the power-alley poster boys.

Read the full article: Power Alleys — How Powerful Men Go Bald

There’s nothing groundbreaking mentioned in the article, but it does provide a short list of celebrities with hairline issues. The term “power alleys” is a fun way to describe hair loss in the corners of the hairline, otherwise known as a Norwood Class 3 pattern. Plus, my colleague Dr. Robert Bernstein is quoted briefly in it.

Actors Jude Law (pictured at right) and Danny Glover are counted as those with “power alleys”, along with sports figures and politicians. See the list and photos at Asylum.com.