21 Male Makeup-Wearing Rock Stars

Being on stage in a rock ‘n’ roll band means there’s a lot of eyes on you. But getting people’s attention is one thing, keeping it is another.

One way to hold your audience’s attention is through makeup, which can serve both a practical and fashionable purpose in the world of entertainment. Hopefully you’ve drawn a big enough crowd that there are multiple rows of people. Wearing brightly colored eyeshadow and dark eyeliner can work as a tool to convey facial expressions even to those sitting way in the back of the venue.

Of course, makeup is also supposed to be fun, whether it’s worn by a man or woman, and boost a person’s self-possession, something ever rock ‘n’ roll frontman wants.

“I started wearing it because it made me feel confident and more attractive,” Robert Smith of the Cure, whose signature look includes kohl-rimmed eyes and smudged lipstick, said to Q in 1989. “I’m completely featureless without it. But on stage I always used to lean my mouth on the mike and shut my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the people. And at the end I’d come off with lipstick smeared all over my face, so I thought I might as well go on with it like that and make it look intentional.”

For the purposes of the gallery below, we’re focusing on male cosmetic-wearing rock stars specifically, loosely organized by era and style of makeup.