Hair, subtitled The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, is a rock musical written during the anti-war sentiment and youth-sexual revolution of the 1960s. With a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, and music by Galt MacDermot, the musical was a product of the peace-love-hippy counter-culture of the times. Several of MacDermot's tunes from Hair became anthems of the peace movement. At the time, the musical's depiction of the use of illegal drugs, sexuality, profanity, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of the "rock musical," utilizing a racially-integrated cast, and by inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-in" finale.
Debuting off-Broadway, the production opened on Broadway in April 1968 and ran for 1,873 performances, followed by a successful London production that ran for 1,998 performances. Numerous productions have been staged around the world since then. Several of the songs from its score became Top 40 hits, and a successful movie version was released in 1979. Hair ranked tenth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals" (wherein "Nation" refers to the United Kingdom).