Gary Glitter Won't Actually Earn 'Joker' Royalties but His Song Still Might Get Removed from the Film

BY Josiah HughesPublished Oct 14, 2019

Disgraced rock star and convicted pedophile Gary Glitter is responsible for "Rock and Roll Part 2," an instrumental jock jam that also plays for two full minutes at a seminal moment in Todd Phillips's Joker. Because of this, many were concerned that Glitter would receive big royalties from the film's success, but apparently that's not the case.

Although the song likely cost between $100,000 and $200,000 to license, Stereogum points to a Los Angeles Times report that claims Glitter sold his rights to the song and all of his other music over 20 years ago. It's now owned by Snapper Music in the U.K. and Universal Music Publishing Group in North America.

"Gary Glitter does not get paid," an anonymous source from Snapper told the LA Times. "We've had no contact with him. People generally come to us. We don't promote it at all."

As for Universal, the company said it does "not pay him any royalties or other considerations."

Still, despite the financial clearup, Warner Bros. is still considering removing the song from future releases of the film, including its home edition. According to the New York Times, Phillips has been in talks with the studio to determine whether or not they should remove the song.

Read Exclaim!'s review of Joker.

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