Gary Glitter (born
Paul Francis Gadd, 8 May 1944) is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician. His long and highly successful career was ended in the late 1990s by repeated revelations of and criminal convictions for possession of child pornography and (in the 2000s) for child sexual abuse.
Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s, with a sustained solo UK chart run and several hits including "Rock and Roll, Parts One and Two", "Do You Wanna Touch Me", "I Love You Love Me Love", "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" and "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again". A slight decline in the late 1970s was followed by a successful comeback as a solo artist again from the 1980s. Between 1972 and 1995, Glitter had 26 hit singles which spent a total of 180 weeks in the UK Top 100; twelve of those reached the Top 10, with three charting at number 1. He released seven studio albums, and at least 15 greatest hits collections or live albums. In 1998, his recording of "Rock and Roll" was listed as one of the top 1,001 songs in music history. Later, Glitter faced criminal charges and deportation from several countries including Vietnam and Cambodia and the UK connected with actual and suspected child sexual abuse, after a Vietnamese court found him guilty of obscene acts with minors in 2006; In October 2012, Glitter was arrested again, and bailed, as part of Operation Yewtree, an extensive police investigation into alleged sexual abuse that dates back to the 1950s, connected to the activities of alleged child abuser Jimmy Savile.