Convicted Pedophile Gary Glitter Will Not Receive Royalties After 'Joker' Used His Song: Report

Mar. 16, 2025

Glitter’s 1972 stadium anthem “Rock and Roll Part II” won’t be putting any royalty money in the disgraced singer’s bank accounts, according toThe New York Times.

A representative for Snapper Music, which owns the master rights to Glitter’s music, told theTimesGlitter “is not entitled to, nor have we paid, any royalties to him.”

A spokesperson for Snapper Music told PEOPLE in a statement “that it has owned the Master rights since Feb 1997 and [Glitter] is not entitled to, nor have we paid, any royalties or share of synch fees or other monies from the catalogue to him.”

A spokesperson for Universal Music Publishing Group, which owns the songwriting itself, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Will Oliver/Shutterstock; Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.

Gary Glitter, Joaquine Phoenix

The Todd Phillips-directed film uses Glitter’s 1972 stadium anthem “Rock and Roll Part II” to underscore one of the movie’s biggest scenes, in which Phoenix’s character dances down a large set of stairs.

Some online critics believed this means Glitter, 75, could earn royalty money on the film’s DVD and soundtrack sales — in addition to what Warner Bros. paid initially for using the song.

PEOPLE has reached out to the studio for comment.

Jokerbroke October box office records this weekend, earning an estimated $93.5 million at the domestic box office and made $234 million internationally.

Glitter is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2015 for one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of having sex with a girl under the age of 13.

The British glam rocker (né Paul Gadd) had a long history of sex offenses.

In November 1997, Glitter was arrested after child pornography was found on his laptop; he was sentenced to four months in prison in 1999 and was listed as a sex offender in the United Kingdom.

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One of the rape charges was dropped, though he did admit that an 11-year-old had slept in his bed. He was forced to give compensatory payments to the girls’ families.

In March 2006, Glitter, who has maintained his innocence, was tried on more charges of obscene acts, this time with two girls aged 10 and 11. Found guilty, he was imprisoned for three years. As part of his sentence, he was deported back to Britain from Vietnam upon his early release in August 2008.

Jokeris now playing in theaters.

source: people.com