T. Rex Frontman Marc Bolan Opens Up About Being One of the First Openly Bisexual Rock Stars in New Documentary

Masculinity has long been a tricky topic in rock & roll — a genre dominated by men that, for most of its history, has placed a high premium on alpha energy. But where would it be without its groundbreaking legends who challenged and upended traditional standards of masculinity?

As hyper-masculine pioneers like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis were making rock & roll history in the 1950s, their equally influential peer Little Richard was arguably the first rocker to break the mold of masculinity, with his flamboyant, androgynous persona. Then in the ’60s and ’70s, art rockers like David Bowie and Marc Bolan upped the ante with extravagant makeup, glittery outfits and sky-high platform boots, paving the way for a gay disco group like Village People to score a hit with a song called “Macho Man,” which would later be used, unironically, as one of President Donald Trump’s unofficial campaign anthems during the 2020 election.

In addition to their musical contributions, Bowie and Bolan, the latter of whom is the subject of director Ethan Silverman’s new documentary Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex, also brought a sexual openness to the rock & roll genre, which had become increasingly and rigidly alpha by the ’70s.

By mid decade, both future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers had confirmed that they were bisexual in interviews, and a snippet from Bolan’s confirmation is played in Angelheaded Hipster.

“You are one of the first rock artistes who got into the bisexual trick. You’re not really bisexual, I gather,” the female interviewer says to Bolan.

“I’ve experienced many things in my life. I think, you know, as a child, my mother always told me that, um, if you love someone in any sphere, you know, love them all the time,” Bolan responds. “I love many men and many women, but I happen to like titties. So I tend to sexually go more towards women. But I’ve checked everything out.”

When the interviewer pushes to confirm that it’s not just an image-making thing, Bolan cheekily responds, “David Bowie and I were going to get married at one time.”

The film posthumously delivers belated flowers to Bolan (born Mark Feld in 1947), who died in a car accident in 1977 at age 29, through vintage clips and interviews with legends like Elton John, Ringo Starr and Bowie (seen in vintage clips). As the frontman for T. Rex (previously Tyrannosaurus Rex), Bolan wrote and recorded the 1971 U.K. No. 1s “Hot Love” and “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” the latter of which was T. Rex’s only Top 10 U.S. hit. It returned to the Top 10 in 1985 via a cover by Power Station, a supergroup featuring Robert Palmer, Tony Thompson from Chic and Duran Duran’s John Taylor and Andy Taylor.

Between 1970 and 1973, T. Rex scored 10 Top 5 singles in the U.K. and four No. 1s. In 2020, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 50 years after logging their first U.K. hit with the No. 2 single “Ride a White Swan.”

Angelheaded Hipster devotes a fair chunk of airtime to Bolan’s complicated relationship with his chief rival and fellow glam-rock pioneer Bowie, who calls the T. Rex singer a “very very good friend” in an archival clip included in the documentary. The pair met in the 1960s when they were painting the wall in the office of their mutual then manager.

“Mark and I had an extraordinary relationship,” Bowie says in one segment. “We both knew we were going to do great things, and we were very close in the beginning, and then as it got closer to us actually making it, we drifted apart, and we’d be very wary of each other.”

Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex is now playing in select theaters and will be available to stream on demand Sept. 5.