Marc Bolan

Marc Bolan remains one of British rock's most iconic superstars. He reinvented himself from a left field hero of the rock underground into a pop heartthrob and was a major inspiration to both the punk and heavy metal worlds before famously being killed in a car crash in London in 1977. Growing up in East London, he was playing guitar in a skiffle band by the time he was nine and left school early to become a male model. Pursuing his passion for music, Bolan was signed by manager Simon Napier-Bell and released his first single The Wizard in 1967. He then joined art band John's Children, releasing one Bolan-written single Desdemona, before he formed the psychedelic folk duo Tyrannosaurus Rex with Steve Peregrine Took. Championed by top DJ John Peel, Bolan's pixie persona earned an intense cult following before he switched course to pioneer glam rock, wearing glitter and expansive costumes with the electrified T.Rex. The infectious single Ride A White Swan made him a star, triggering a series of massive hits like Hot Love, Jeepster, Telegram Sam, Metal Guru, Children Of The Revolution and 20th Century Boy. At one point T.Rex were said to be selling 100,000 records a day, but by the mid-1970s the hits dried up. By now solo and hailed as a hero in the new punk era, Bolan was on the verge of making a comeback with a new band when he died, two weeks before his 30th birthday.

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