To readers in the United Kingdom, Gary Glitter was originally known for his charting hits and showmanship. However, during his rise to stardom in the 1970s and 1980s, he took advantage of fans and his popularity to commit sex crime after sex crime.
However, in North America, Glitter’s later reputation is the one we generally associate with him. Mind you, he didn’t chart in the U.S as he did in the UK. His biggest hit in the U.S, “Rock and Roll Part 2” became a staple of sports events in the U.S until his arrest in 2015. At that time, arenas began to phase out the anthem, gradually eroding whatever revenue he gained after his fall from grace.
The Gary Glitter-Jimmy Savile Connection
The interesting thing about Glitter’s decline is that his rise and eventual fall happened at the same time as another disgraced UK staple in the deceased TV presenter and DJ, Jimmy Savile. While Glitter was abusing underaged girls, Savile was also said to have been sexually abusing children.
Like Glitter, Savile was highly respected and had a public persona that kept him out of trouble. Their targeted audiences were the youth as well with Glitter being a rock musician and Savile having the show Jim’ll Fix It and his decades-long as the host of Top of the Pops—both on BBC.
Also, Savile’s reach extended to friendships with PM Margaret Thatcher and the Royal Family. Unlike Glitter, Savile was never charged with anything involving sex crimes against children. The allegations were always around for both men but Savile avoided prosecution for reports dating back to the early 1960s.
The Fall of Gary Glitter
The reason why Jimmy Savile is being mentioned so much is that authorities really started to look into allegations of sexual abuse against children following Savile’s death in 2011.
The investigation came about after a review of BBC’s handling of a decision not to run a special report on Savile’s allegations got traction. Instead, the BBC ran a tribute to Savile which opened them to ITV and Sky News asking questions about what BBC knew about the allegations.
As for Gary Glitter, he wouldn’t make it 2000 before his past caught up to him. In the decades following the three incidents that sent him to jail in 2015, he went to jail in 1999 for possessing child porn.
Glitter was released after four months and disappeared for a period having moved to Spain on his yacht. The aged rocker left Spain after people realized he wasn’t “Larry Brilliante”. After a period in Cuba, he settled in Cambodia for a while.
In 2002 when he was booted from Cambodia because of more sex crime allegations. Glitter moved to Vietnam and lived there for a while under the radar. He was arrested in 2006 when he was convicted of abusing two 10 and 11-year-old girls. After two-and-a-half years, he was released.
His release from Vietnamese jail involved more drama as Gary Glitter was adamant about returning to the UK as a free man. He was eventually returned to the UK after Thai authorities threatened to arrest him and deport him back home.
In 2008, he mentioned that he would like to finish recording an album after getting out of jail. Glitter managed to fly under the radar for four years until ITV released The Other Side of Jimmy Savile which delved into the Savile allegations and mentioned several others of note—including Glitter.
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