Great Stars Who Begin As Rastafarians With Career-Ending Hair Cut

Ruud Gullit and Gregory Isaacs



It starts with ambition, motivation, faith, and since personality defines us and how we interact with the world, many stars begin their career with different personalities to be famous. Two stars, I know personally who became successful in different fields while they keep dreadlocks were the ex-soccer star, Ruud Gullit and reggae icon, Gregory Isaacs but as both reached a certain age, they cut off their dreadlocks. Why?

World football legend Ruud Gullit is one of the strongest players in the 20th century. Since childhood, football became his life. In the Dutch national team, Gullit played 66 matches, scored 17 goals. The most memorable one was the finals of the 1988 European Championships against the USSR team.

Ruud Gullit was born on September 1, 1962, in Amsterdam. The future captain of the Dutch national team has always sought to play against older rivals. Physical data contributed to this: none of the elders could outrun him, and Ruud stood out in height.

Gullit's hairstyle is similar to Rastafarian, which gave him a lot of admirers worldwide. Gullit comes from two different parents. His father originates from the South American country of Suriname, a former Dutch colony and his mother from Holland.

There is a hypothesis that Surinamese men are endowed with certain "football genes" that make themselves known after moving to Holland in the next generations.

Since 1982, Ruud Gullit has been a Feyenoord player. It so happened that he ended up in the same club as Johan Cruyff himself, who was finishing his playing career at Feyenoord. According to Gullit, to speak with Johan Cruyff, who died almost three years "was both a great pleasure and a great opportunity to learn the secrets of mastery."

On the field, Gullit has excellent speed. His brilliant technique and extraordinary thinking allowed him to become a real leader, playing first, PSV, then Milan and the Dutch national team. He handed out transfers to his partners, smashed the attacks of rivals.

His mastery on the field didn't escape the attention of former Italian president; Silvio Berlusconi. The powerful television tycoon at the time, who had just bought Milan and decided to return it to former glory, laid out for Gullit an amount that was a record for those times - $ 10 million.

Without dreadlocks

During the unveiling of the Heineken Champions League trophy to the media, Gullit who has long cut off his dreadlocks appeared a different image. He was asked about his new personality. Gullit smiled and said that he needed to close the books on the Ruud Gullit that on the field and a Ruud Gullit that was no longer playing.

According to him, he has been living without his dreadlocks for 14 years and even though it has been easy and sometimes people don't recognize him, the dreadlocks chapters of life on the football field have been closed. He said to thunderous applause.

Gregory Isaacs 

Gregory Isaacs was born on July 15, 1951, and died on October 25, 2010. His style of music gave him nicknames such as 'Cool Ruler and Lonely Lover.' As a teenager, Isaacs had already become a veteran in talent contests that were regularly held in Jamaica.

In 1973, he teamed up with a young singer, Errol Dunkley, to open the African Museum record label and store. Soon, the single “My only lover” was a massive hit for reggae lovers. For three years, Gregory Isaacs recorded a lot with other producers to finance the further development of the African Museum.

These were hits ranging from ballads to indigenous reggae, including “All I have is love”, “Lonely Soldier”, “Black a kill black”, “Extra Classic” and his cover version of Dobby Dobson “Love Is Overdue." In 1974, he began working with producer Alvin Ränglin, and in the same year he received his first Jamaican “number” for the single “Love Is Overdue.”

He secured his international fame in 1978, when he signed a contract with an offshoot of Virgin Records - Front Line Records and appeared in the movie “Rockers”, in which he played the role of the slave owner. After the release of the film, Gregory Isaacs earned the nickname “Cold Ruler”, and his 'Soon Forward' record is considered one of his best works.

In 1981, he first appeared at the Reggae Sunsplash festival. He participated in it every year until 1991 and moved on to Charisma Records, the Pre branch. That record company released his single "The Lonely Lover" with other successful compositions, including "Permanent Lover", "Tribute to Waddy", "Tune in" and "Wailing Rudy."

He signed a contract with Island Records and released an album that finally helped him breakthrough to a wider audience: “Night Nurse." The success of Gregory Isaacs coincided with the problems with drugs, then served a six-month prison sentence in Kingston in 1982 for possession of unlicensed firearms.

When I interviewed the reggae star in Antwerp, I asked him many questions but one thing which I didn't ask him is why he cut off his dreadlocks? Gregory Isaacs is dead and gone but his sweet melodies are still with us today.