Kelly Slater With Hair: The Young Surfer Behind the Bald Look
If you only know Kelly Slater from recent photos, the image is clear: a shaved head, focused eyes, and a surfboard.
Search for older photos, though, and a different Slater appears. As a teenager and young professional, he had brown hair.
That contrast is the whole story behind the search term “Kelly Slater with hair.” It is not a new hairstyle, a wig, or a recent change. It is a look back at the early years of the greatest competitive surfer on record.
Who Is Kelly Slater?
Robert Kelly Slater was born on February 11, 1972, in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
He grew up near the water and began surfing at age five. His father ran a bait-and-tackle shop, not a professional surf career.
Slater turned professional in 1990. Within two years, he had changed the sport.
So, Did Kelly Slater Have Hair?
Yes. In his youth, Slater had brown hair.
Photos and footage from the late 1980s and early 1990s show a young, brown-haired surfer. Magazine coverage at the time even compared his looks to a young Elvis Presley.
As his career went on, the shaved head became his signature look. That is why older photos can surprise fans who first met him in his bald era.
What he did not have
Slater is not known for dreadlocks. Claims that dreadlocks were his iconic hairstyle are wrong.
His two clear public looks are simple to separate:
- Young Slater: brown hair, early career
- Later Slater: shaved head, most of his title-winning years and beyond
Why the Hair Photos Still Get Shared
Old surf photos travel well online because the change is so stark.
A young surfer with a full head of hair became, over time, one of sport’s most recognisable bald athletes. Fans share the early images partly out of surprise, and partly because they show how long Slater has been at the top.
The photos also mark a different era in surfing. In the early 1990s, Slater was a new face. By the end of that decade, he was already the standard other surfers were measured against.
Kelly Slater’s Record, in Brief
Slater won a record 11 men’s world titles. No other male surfer has matched that total.
His title years were:
- 1992
- 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
- 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011
That run includes five straight titles from 1994 to 1998. It also made him both the youngest world champion, at age 20 in 1992, and the oldest, at age 39 in 2011.
Other verified career marks include:
- 56 World Surf League Championship Tour event wins
- 8 Pipeline Masters titles, including wins in 1992 and 2022
- 3 Triple Crown of Surfing titles, in 1995, 1998, and 2019
- 4 Laureus World Sports Awards for Action Sportsperson of the Year
His first world title was sealed at the Pipeline Masters in Hawaii in 1992, after he had already won his first tour event that year, the Rip Curl Pro in France.
From Full-Time Tour to Wildcards
Slater stepped back from full-time competition at the end of the 1998 season, after his sixth title. He returned to the tour in 2002 and won five more world titles.
In April 2024, after missing the mid-season cut at the Margaret River Pro, his run as a full-time Championship Tour surfer came to an end. He left the door open to wildcard appearances, and he has since continued to surf in selected events.
That long span — from a teenage prospect with hair to a 50-plus veteran still beating top seeds as a wildcard — is why his career is so hard to match.
Beyond Competition
Slater is also known for work away from contest jerseys.
He co-founded the clothing brand Outerknown with designer John Moore. The brand launched in 2015, after Slater’s long sponsorship with Quiksilver.
He also founded Kelly Slater Wave Company, which developed the Surf Ranch artificial wave, first shown to the public in December 2015.
He appeared on screen early in his career too, including a run on Baywatch in the early 1990s. Surfing, however, has always been the work that defines him.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Kelly Slater ever have hair?
Yes. He had brown hair as a young surfer. The shaved-head look came later and became his signature.
Why is Kelly Slater bald now?
Slater has kept a shaved head for most of his adult career. He has not presented it as a single dramatic hair decision. It is simply the look most fans associate with his title years.
How many world titles did Kelly Slater win?
He won 11 world titles, in 1992, 1994–1998, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Is Kelly Slater still surfing?
He is no longer a full-time Championship Tour surfer after 2024. He has continued to appear as a wildcard and remains active in surfing and in his business projects.
The Short Answer
“Kelly Slater with hair” is not a mystery transformation. It is Kelly Slater before the shaved head — a brown-haired teenager from Cocoa Beach who went on to win 11 world titles and reshape competitive surfing.
