Flamboyant British glam rock singer.
Born May 8, 1944 in Banbury, Oxfordshire
Gadd began his recording career as [a809714] in 1960, although a succession of singles under this name (and later as Paul Monday) made little impact. In 1971, with management by Mike Leander, he became active in the glam rock genre, releasing the single "Rock N Roll" under the name Gary Glitter. It reached the top ten in both the UK and USA. Although his only major hit state-side, it was the first of many in the UK, under the guidance of Rock Artistes Music Ltd..
Glitter's releases were, for the most part, fairly basic, but were made successful by his bravado and strutting showmanship. The hits dried up in the mid-70s, though he remained in the public eye via live performances and a 1984 comeback "Another Rock N Roll Christmas", as well as being sampled by (and appearing on TV with) The Timelords for their 1988 chart-topper "Doctorin' The Tardis". He went into semi-retirement in the 1990s, putting most of his musical energy into his annual Christmas gigs. However, his musical career ceased after his conviction in 1999 for child pornography possession. In Vietnam, in March 2006, he was convicted of abusing two girls aged 10 and 11 and spent about 30 months in prison.
On February 5, 2015, Gadd was found guilty of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under the age of 13, between 1975 and 1980 and sentenced, on February 27 to 16 years imprisonment. He was declared bankrupt in March 2025 for failing to pay £500,000 compensation to one of his victims.
During his career, Glitter/Gadd sold about 20 million records and had 26 hit singles in the UK. Snapper Music has owned the master rights to Glitter's recordings since February 1997 and he is not entitled to any royalties or other revenue from the catalogue. Glitter's publishing interest in the copyright of his songs is owned by Universal Music Publishing Group and other parties. UMPG does not pay him any royalties or other considerations.
