Georgia 9-Year-Old Competing In USA Mullet Championships

Bentley Bryan used to be shy.

Then he grew a mullet.

The Georgia 9-year-old got a confidence boost when he debuted the “business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back” hairstyle. That’s why his dad, Chris, thought the USA Mullet Championships would be perfect for Bentley. He told Macon-based WGXA News:

“All the positivity that's come out of the Facebook posts, the comments, and everything, it's just really cool seeing him when he hears how many likes he's gotten, and how many comments he's gotten. Letting him read those comments, and seeing how excited it makes him, that's been the best part of it for me.”

The USA Mullet Championships shares a brief history of the hairstyle that surged with popularity in the 1980s, including 10 “iconic mullets” rocked by David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Billy Ray Cyrus, John Stamos, Joan Jett and others. Noting that some historians believe “the mullet has been around since at least Ancient Greece,” the Mullet Championships discusses the nostalgic style and predicts, as of 2020, that mullets are on the rise again:

“Is the mullet resurging in popularity along with 80’s nostalgia-themed media, like It and Stranger Things? Perhaps. Like media and clothing, hair styles tend to move in cycles. Men’s hairstyles have been typically short-on-the-sides, longer-on-top for a while, now, and maybe the mullet is a shift out of those restrictions. Recent women’s fashion has involved a lot of things that were at one point, not long ago, considered tacky (looking at you, mom jeans and scrunchies). Maybe the mullet is the next step in this resurgence, allowing men to embrace the tackier sides of our previous societal fashion faux pas, as well.”

WGXA News notes that Bentley is competing against 100 other kids, ranging from age 1 to 12. He already made the Top 35 in his group of 9 to 12 year olds. Winners are selected via the reactions on their Facebook pictures on the USA Mullet Championships page. Check out Bentley’s picture here.