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Michael Bolton -

It's believed that the mullet dates back to our ancestors, the Neanderthals.

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Ricky Martin -

Apparently, they used it to keep the hair out of their eyes and protect their necks from the elements.

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Mel Gibson -

And before Gibson rocked one, other ancient civilizations already favored this hairstyle.

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Richard Dean Anderson -

Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor were just some of the places where men wore them.

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Andre Agassi -

It looks like the Greeks liked it too. There are statues dating back to the 6th century BCE to prove it.

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Richard Marx -

The ancient Greek poet Homer mentioned it in his book 'The Iliad,' when he described the Abantes, a group of spearmen.

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Don Johnson -

Homer said they wore "their forelocks cropped, hair grown long at the backs."

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Bono -

In Ancient Rome, the hairstyle was popular among men who participated in chariot races.

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Rob Lowe -

Greek-Byzantine scholar Procopius makes reference to the mullet in his book 'Secret History.'

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Paul McCartney -

He wrote: "The hair on their heads they cut off in front back to the temples, leaving the part behind to hang down to a very great length in a senseless fashion."

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Billy Ray Cyrus -

And then there's the Native Americans, of course. They believed that one's spirit was found in their hair.

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Rod Stewart -

The mullet, with the long hair on the back, was a sign of spiritual strength.

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Chief Joseph -

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce is a good example of how Native Americans wore the hairstyle.

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Patrick Swayze -

So it looks like the Western colonizers might be guilty of cultural appropriation after all. 

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Benjamin Franklin -

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States wore a hairstyle also known as the skullet, which is essentially a mullet, but the top and sides are either bald, shaved, or buzzcut.

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James K. Polk -

And in 1845, the 11th president of the United States was rocking a mullet.

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David Bowie -

The hairstyle lost popularity for a few years, but then the '70s happened. We can't think of mullets without Ziggy Stardust springing to mind.

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Chuck Norris -

And then the '80s consolidated the mullet as a cool hairstyle.

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David Hasselhoff -

The mullet was the must-have hairstyle for men during the '80s but, like any other trend, it died out.

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Kiefer Sutherland -

The style started to have negative connotations and was eventually abandoned by famous people.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme -

Until 2005, when kids in Moscow thought it would be a good idea to grow mullets again.

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Mario Lopez -

But not everyone around the world could wear a mullet legally.

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Lionel Ritchie -

Iran banned the mullet in 2010 (among other Western hairstyles).

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Kanye West -

The Oxford English Dictionary credits the rap group Beastie Boys as the first to use the term in their song 'Mullet Head' in 1994.

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Corey Feldman -

But the term "mullet-head" was used way before that, by Mark Twain in his classic novel 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'

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Kurt Russell -

In the 1884 book, Tom Sawyer says: "They're so confiding and mullet-headed they don't take notice of nothing at all."

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Al Pacino -

The mullet is such an iconic haircut that it has many, many alternative names.

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George Clooney -

Other terms for the mullet include "the bi-level," "the Kentucky waterfall," "the Missouri compromise," and "hockey hair."

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Christopher Walken -

And there is also "Camaro Hair," "Mississippi top hat," "the MacGyver," and "the Joe Dirt."

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Neil Patrick Harris -

But there's more! The mullet is sometimes called "squirrel pelt" or the "ape drape."

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Prince -

And, of course, our favorite: "business in the front, party in the back."

See also: The worst hairstyles of the '90s.

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