Quiz: Guess the musician based on just one accessory
Quiz: Guess the musician based on just one accessory
Daniel BukszpanMon, April 20, 2026 at 5:56 PM UTC
0
Can you name these musicians based on one element of their signature look?
Rock music is almost as much a visual medium as a musical one. A lot of fans may have liked Keith Richardsā guitar playing, but he wouldnāt really be Keith Richards without his disheveled signature look, and if he showed up for a gig in a business suit, it would just seem wrong. A lot of rock musicians realized this and managed to make a signature look for themselves, based on an article of clothing, an accessory, or a hairdo. They may not have realized it at the time, but when they picked that hat-scarf-glove-whatever, they made themselves instantly recognizable, even to people who didnāt listen to their music.
Image Credit: Etsy.com.
1. Hint
This iconic rock star was famous for his signature white tank top.
Image Credit: Carl Lender / Wiki Commons.
Answer: Freddie Mercury
The white tank top is barely even considered a proper article of clothing, qualifying instead as underwear to a great many people. Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, meanwhile, was nothing like a great many people, and wearing a white tank top at Live Aid permanently turned it from an unmentionable to the uniform of a rock god.
Image Credit: Abog/ Wikimedia Commons
2. Hint
This famous band frontman tied flamboyant scarves to his microphone stand.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.com.
Answer: Steven Tyler
Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler tied scarves to his microphone stand and it became known as his exclusive thing, even if he wasnāt wearing any of the scarves himself. A lot of glam metal imitators came along in the 1980s and tried to hijack the look, but decades later itās still only associated with Tyler.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
3. Hint
This guitarist is easily recognizable by his iconic top hat.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
Answer: Slash
Was Guns Nā Rosesā guitarist Slash trying to copy the top hat worn by Marc Bolan on the cover of the T. Rex album āThe Sliderā? Or was he just trying to obscure his face with the curly hair that covered his eyes when he squished a hat over it? Whatever the origin story is, Slash is that hat.
Image Credit: FLickr/ Bob Gayle.
4. Hint
This iconic vocalistās feather boa epitomized an era.
Image Credit: IMDb
Answer: Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin died young, joining the ā27 clubā in 1970 after a heroin overdose. However, in the very short amount of time that she was on the world stage, she created a signature sound with a blues wail that could peel paint off the walls. She also established a signature look with the help of a feather boa.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
5. Hint
This renowned bassist sported quite menacing boots.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Gene Simmons
Really, the most famous part of KISS bassist Gene Simmonsā signature look is his very long tongue, which he always had whether the band was in makeup or not. Having said that, thereās no way to use that as the clue without using a picture of his face, so weāre going with his epic footwear instead.
Image Credit: IMDb
6. Hint
This punk icon flaunted mini dresses.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Debbie Harry
Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry was easy on the eyes during her 1970s heyday, but she was too smart to leave it at that. She became synonymous with the punk-infused mini dress, which quickly became a new-wave staple.
Image Credit: Museum of Pop Culture/ Wikimedia Commons
7. Hint
This cardigan sweater defined a music genreās fashion.
Image Credit: Julie Kramer / Wiki Commons.
Answer: Kurt Cobain
While most people would answer the question, āWhat is grunge style?ā by answering āA flannel shirt,ā the truth is that Nirvanaās frontman never limited himself to those. If anything, the cardigan sweater that he wore and that looked like it had cost a dollar at a thrift shop was his real signature look, and since his passing, no one has tried to copy it.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Mark Marek.
8. Hint
This iconic musician incorporated a facial feature into his signature look.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
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Answer: Lemmy Kilmister
Motƶrhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister was allegedly a prolific womanizer. He also had a very large wart on his face. Wfhile some people might be self-conscious about that, he owned it and wore it like armor. We commend him on not letting his unorthodox features stop him from not only going after what he wanted, but for embracing it as part of his signature look.
Image Credit: Amazon.com.
9. Hint
Ridiculously tight jeans
Image Credit: Raph_PH/ Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Robert Plant
Led Zeppelinās Robert Plant was the archetypal hard rock singer during the 1970s, and he unwittingly gave the movie āThis Is Spinal Tapā lots of inspiration. One such bit of inspiration was his extremely tight jeans, which you can see in the concert movie āThe Song Remains the Sameā and which leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.com.
10. Hint
This iconic musician gained fame for draping a live snake around his neck.
Image Credit: Steven Friederich / Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Alice Cooper
Vincent Furnier, better known as Alice Cooper, invented modern shock rock, and his antics included doing things like decapitating himself onstage with a phony guillotine and using a live snake as a feather boa. While some imitators might have tried their own phony onstage executions, most of them drew the line at hanging out with a snake until Britney Spears came along.
Image Credit: Raph_PH/ Wikimedia Commons
11. Hint
Schoolboy uniform
Image Credit: Weatherman90./ Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Angus Young
AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young may be pushing 70, but that has done nothing to lessen his predilection for wearing a British schoolboy uniform onstage. He started the schtick when the band formed in the 1970s, and even though the lineup has changed multiple times, he and his shorts have been mainstays.
Image Credit: Andrei Lavrinov/iStock
12. Hint
Lace shawls
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
Answer: Stevie Nicks
Whatever you think of Stevie Nicksā raspy references to white-winged doves, you canāt deny that sheās carved out a signature look for herself. By garlanding herself with lace shawls, Nicks found a niche as the rock version of Glinda, the good witch.
Image Credit: BananaShot/iStock
13. Hint
Black-everything
Image Credit: Wikipedia.
Answer: Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash was known as the Man in Black, and during his earlier career in the 1950s and 1960s, he was pretty much alone in that. Of course, in the 1980s, goth and metal fans started draping themselves in all-black clothes, but Cash kept his title as the original Man in Black and remains so even 20 years after his passing.
Image Credit: PhotoMelon/iStock
14. Hint
A red bandana was a staple in this musicianās āuniform.ā
Image credit: Dharmabumstead / Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen fashioned himself a working-class, blue-collar hero, and part of that uniform was a red bandana. The Boss wore it headband-style, presumably because E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt was already wearing one like a durag.
Image Credit: Studio Light and Shade/iStock
15. Hint
This iconic singer rocked leather pants.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Answer: Jim Morrison
Doors frontman Jim Morrison spent most of his singing career as the archetypal rock frontman, wearing skin-tight clothes and proclaiming himself the Lizard King. Part of that outfit was a pair of extremely tight leather pants, and that combined with his shirtless chest is how many of his fans prefer to remember him.
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