When one thinks of the individual who has most influenced popular
culture in the last 20+ years, many names come to mind. Music producers
like Dr. Dre and P. Diddy shaped the sound of hip hop and opened it to
the suburban masses. Pop stars from Madonna to Britney Spears set
trends in fashion, style, and attitude. Actors Tom Cruise and Mel
Gibson have moved from starring in blockbusters to calling the shots.
Yet none of these individuals have a mullet like Billy Ray Cyrus.

That
must be the reason for his sustained, yet unexplainable pop culture
success for 2 decades. Billy Ray’s country music career was highlighted
by “Achy Breaky Heart”, a honky tonk anthem that America couldn’t get
enough of in 1992. In large part due to the widespread appeal of “Achy
Breaky Heart,” line dancing saw a meteoric rise in popularity. Equally
inexplicable, mullets, aka, business in the front, party in the back,
also saw an early 90’s resurgence. One would think that Cyrus and his
Kentucky waterfall would slip quietly into VH-1 oblivion. Able to do
what others had failed at previously, Billy Ray emerged post millenium
as his pop culture alter-ego. Once redder than NASCAR, the new Billy
Ray is none other than a metrosexual.