From Kim Kardashian to Katy Perry: The most dramatic Hollywood hair transformations of all time

Kim’s signature luscious dark locks are synonymous with the reality star herself; however, she has experimented with different shades in the past, with none being more dramatic than her transformation to blonde.

Kim went full method for her infamous 2022 Met Gala look, where she donned Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday Mr President” dress, dyeing her hair an almost white shade of blonde for the event.

While she returned to her roots soon after, Kim went blonde again in April 2024. “Ice Kimmy,” her hairstylist Chris Appleton wrote on Instagram. “We wanted to keep a short root & the blonde cool & creamy. I coloured it in a couple of sessions to keep the integrity of the hair nice and juicy.” And juicy it was!

Ari is no stranger to bold hair colours — during her time on the hit Nickelodeon show Victorious, she rocked a bright red hairstyle, which she later revealed had severely damaged her hair.

After returning to her natural brunette, her long and high ponytail became part of her everyday look and spurred countless memes.

But perhaps her most dramatic hair transformation was when she dyed her hair blonde for her role as Glinda in the smash-hit musical film Wicked.

She debuted the new look in October 2022 and explained to Vogue why she chose to go full method as the Good Witch. “My pop persona is such a characterised version on its own. Beauty really helped me deconstruct that person and find Glinda. Even though I was wearing wigs, I needed to be blonde, too,” she said.

She told the publication that she dyed her eyebrows to highlight a certain kind of “softness that Glinda has with the lighter brows,” as “It didn’t make any sense when I had my dark brows.”

The ‘Diamond’ singer’s hair has always looked incredible, so it’s no surprise that her own hair care brand, Fenty Hair, is enjoying incredible success this year.

Rihanna’s mane is chameleonic; in the past, she’s rocked her natural curls, long blonde locks, and even a cropped pixie cut look. 

But perhaps her best, and certainly most eye-catching look, was when she dyed her hair a bright red, perfectly highlighting her gorgeous hazel eyes.

She debuted the look with voluminous waves for her ‘Only Girl (In The World)’ music video in 2010, followed by a curly bob and then a sleek style falling to her shoulders. Rihanna sported this look for an entire year during her Loud era, looking like Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

Florence shocked fans with her Met Gala appearance in 2023 when she debuted a buzz cut — a far cry from the long blonde tresses we had grown used to.

Ever since, the Oppenheimer actress has rocked the look with incredible confidence and style, inspiring others to follow her lead.

“I purposefully chose to look like that. I wanted vanity out of the picture,” she told Radio Times, as per People.

“Hollywood is very glamorous — especially for women — and it’s hard for an audience to see past that,” she said.  

“Whenever I’ve not needed to be glam or have a full face of makeup, I fight to keep it that way. It helps the audience.”

“Vanity is gone,” she continued. “The only thing that people can look at then is your raw face.”

Zendaya is no stranger to making bold style statements, and her hair has often played a key role in her iconic looks.

While best known for her natural brown tresses, she shocked fans in 2019 by fully embracing her Spiderman character, Mary Jane Watson, and dyeing her hair a striking, vibrant red.

The new hue immediately caught the attention of fans, with many praising the fiery colour and how it showed her commitment to the role.

Zendaya herself loved the change, sharing a post on social media with a simple but fitting caption to pay tribute to her character: “MJ hair,” she wrote.

While the British actress’ Game of Thrones character was instantly recognisable for her intricately braided white blonde hair, Emilia opted to wear a wig for the role and kept her natural brunette hair throughout filming.

That is, until the show’s final season, when she gave in and dyed her hair the same white–blonde colour, allowing Emilia to seamlessly transition between her real hair and the heavy wig required for the character.

The decision also made her daily transformation into the Mother of Dragons much easier and highlighted her gorgeous facial features, like her iconic and expressive eyebrows.

Despite getting recognised more after she went blonde, the 38-year-old loved how any outfit could be instantly elevated thanks to her new hair. “I feel like being this blonde is kind of like you’re constantly wearing an accessory,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2018.

“So, you can wear all black and be like ‘I tried! There you go’, whereas when you’re brunette and wearing all black it’s like, ‘meh’.”

Kate’s famous blonde locks are reminiscent of her mother Goldie Hawn’s gorgeous hair, so it was indeed a surprise when the How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days star shaved it all off for a role in the film Sister in 2017, directed by the singer Sia.

“My little one and Sia took clippers to it,” she said on the Lorraine show in 2018. “It’s funny because when you’re doing it for a role you don’t really think about it because you’re just ready for it. You’re like, ‘Let’s do this. But when it was done, it was like: ‘Oh, my head’s shaved.'”

“I really loved it, I actually miss it,” she continued. “My boyfriend used to rub my head, and it would put me right to sleep. I’ll never forget that sensation of just falling asleep to him rubbing my head. I’d never felt anything like that before.”

Kate has since grown her hair out, yet we can’t deny that the shaved head era was an iconic moment in time.

The actress left behind her luscious brunette Twilight tresses for a blonde cropped look when she was 23; Kristen then shaved it all off for a film role in 2017 and told Today that the move was driven by pure practicality.

“I’m doing a movie in a couple of weeks called Underwater and I play a mechanical engineer who is working on an oil rig on the bottom of the ocean floor, so for me, it’s practical,” she said.

“I mean, I’m not going to be able to have touch-ups once I put the helmet on, so I must shave my head!”

It seems the 34-year-old had no regrets about the bold move; she said on the show that rubbing her head was one of her favourite things about the change.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time for novelty’s sake, just because at some point in your life you want to be able to do that. It feels amazing — I just want to headbang all day!”

Miley certainly distanced herself from her Disney roots when she chopped off her long brunette locks for a cropped blonde pixie cut, with shaved sides and a voluminous coiffe on top — à la Rihanna.

This was during her infamous Bangerz era, when she broke out of the Disney mould and carved her own path as an artist. “My hairstylist was there, and I said, ‘Shave my head, dye me blonde — we need to see change,'” she said to MTV after she debuted the new look.

“[After the haircut] I had this whole new attitude. I felt like I could finally be the bad [expletive] that I really am,” Miley continued. 

The ‘Flowers’ singer told Ellen, in retrospect, that she had no regrets and that the style change was helped her move forward. “When I chopped my hair off, I felt so free,” Miley said. “It was less about a haircut and more about breaking away from the past.”

The blonde pixie cut was all the rage in the 2010s, and no pop star was immune to this trend — including ‘Firework’ singer Katy Perry, whose haircut coincided with her Witness album era.

The mother of one had never been afraid to rock an eye-catching hairstyle, with moments of pink and blue appearing throughout her career, as well as her natural dark locks. 

However, the blonde look was unlike anything she’d done before; like Miley, cutting her hair off represented a personal shift for Katy.

“People talk about my hair, and they don’t like it, or they wish it were longer, and like, I so badly want to be Katheryn Hudson [Katy’s real name] that I don’t even want to look like Katy Perry anymore sometimes,” she said during a YouTube Live.

“And that is a little bit of why I cut my hair because I really want to be my authentic self, like 100 per cent. So it hurts when I don’t feel like I can.”