Woman sets record with world’s longest mullet

It’s only right that the world record for longest Tennessee waterfall belongs to someone from Knoxville.

Guinness World Records has awarded the title of “World’s Longest Competitive Mullet (female)” to a woman from Tennessee who said she started growing out her hair more than 30 years ago, according to KTLA sister station WATE.

A mullet is a hairstyle in which the hair is cut and styled shorter in the front of the face and on top and sides of the head, but is longer in the back of the head.

It’s described in hit movies such as “Joe Dirt” as “business in the front, party in the back,” and popular nicknames include the Tennessee waterfall or top hat (substitute Kentucky if you’re in Tennessee), the North Carolina neck warmer and the achy breaky big mistakey, a nod to the Billy Ray Cyrus classic “Achy Breaky Heart.”

Tami Manis, a public health nurse in Knoxville, and her 5-foot-8 mullet will appear in “Guinness World Records 2024,” according to a news release shared by the record-keeping publication.

Manis shared in the release that her hair’s official birthday is Feb. 9, 1990, which is when she began seriously growing it out after watching the “Voices Carry” music video by ‘Til Tuesday.

“The [singer] had a rattail and I really wanted one of those,” she said.

In the music video, a bemulleted lead singer Aimee Mann defends her haircut after her boyfriend tries to control her look, eventually shouting the chorus of the song while in a crowded theater and embarrassing him. The song’s themes include self-empowerment and staying true to one’s self.

That’s not to say it’s only willpower that made Manis’ hairdo possible. Hask hair products and an Argan oil-infused conditioner have become key ingredients to keeping her hair healthy and strong.

“I’ve been blessed that my hair grows and now it’s the world’s longest mullet and I’m very happy with it,” Manis said.

She recently received her world record certificate for her mullet in the mail and confirmed her title.

“I reverified that I’m actually in the 2024 edition of ‘Guinness World Records’ for the longest mullet and that is pretty amazing,” she said.

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