Gabriella Ferlita
Gregory Porter is a well-established musician, known for his expressive jazz music and infamous baritone vocals.
But despite his huge success, which has garnered him multiple Grammy Awards, the jazz singer-songwriter is also recognised for his choice of headgear.
The 50-year-old musician is the two-time winner of the Grammy’s Best Jazz Vocal Album in both 2014 and 2015.
His recent appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain has left many home-viewers baffled about his headwear, having formerly worn a flat cap and now wearing a balaclava-style strap as well which is placed under his chin.
Gregory Porter started wearing his hat, or rather a Kangol Summer Spitfire with an altered strap (if you want to get technical!) in order to cover up scars left from skin surgery as a child.
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Porter hasn’t detailed where exactly his scars are or why he had to have the surgery in his youth, but he told the BBC that he wants the focus to be “less about my hat and more about my heart and my sound.
“People recognise me by it now. It is what it is.”
He also explained to the Metro that the choice to wear the hat “started off covering some scars from surgery but it’s become my style.
“I was in Denver and it was cold. I was wearing five layers of clothing and I wore a hat.”
He added: “The only time I didn’t get recognised I took off my hat to swim in the ocean in Ibiza and no one recognised me. I went back to my hotel and put my hat on…and there was Gregory Porter.”