09/30/2026
Remembering singer-songwriter, poet and guitarist Marc Bolan of T. Rex, born Mark Feld on September 30, 1947, in Stoke Newington Common (not actually part of Stoke Newington), in the borough of Hackney, East London, England -- he died on September 16, 1977.
He was the lead singer of the band T. Rex and was one of the pioneers of the glam rock movement of the 1970s.
Bolan's appearance on the BBC's music show Top of the Pops in March 1971, wearing glitter and satins, is often cited as the beginning of the glam rock movement. Music critic Ken Barnes called Bolan "the man who started it all". T. Rex's 1971 album Electric Warrior, with all songs written by Bolan, including the UK chart topper "Get It On", has been described by AllMusic as "the album that essentially kick-started the UK glam rock craze." Producer Tony Visconti, who would also work with another major glam rock pioneer David Bowie, stated, "What I saw in Marc Bolan had nothing to do with strings, or very high standards of artistry; what I saw in him was raw talent. I saw genius. I saw a potential rock star in Marc – right from the minute, the hour I met him."
Bolan died at the age of 29 in a car crash two weeks before his 30th birthday. In 1977, a memorial stone and bust of Bolan, Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine, was unveiled at the site where he died in Barnes, London. As a member of T. Rex, Bolan will be posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.
