34 Celebrities Who Went Blonde and Completely Transformed Their Look

Hollywood may be filled with blonde celebrities, but that doesn’t mean they were naturally born with the shade. In fact, it’s one of the most popular ways for a brunette or redheaded star to change up their look. Season two of The Other Two even pokes fun at this in a recent episode: When teen pop star Chase Dreamz needs a quick career boost, he dyes his hair blonde. It becomes the top trending story of the day. 

Going blonde can completely transform a star’s look and vibe, but it’s not a light decision to make. Bleaching can damage hair, and it requires a lot of maintenance. There’s not a lot of room for error—though these now blonde celebrities do have access to the best stylists in the world to help them through the process. 

Below, you’ll see some of the most successful examples of celebrities who went blonde and totally transformed. Some adopted the new look only temporarily, while others decided to stick it out. And all of them made us wonder: Maybe blondes really do have more fun….

Billie Eilish

Grammy winner Billie Eilish signified a new era of her music by replacing her iconic green roots and long black hair with a platinum blonde bob in March 2021. Since then, Eilish has kept up the blonde look, with no roots—neon or natural—in sight.

Florence Pugh

Oscar nominee and noted Instagram chef Florence Pugh has sported several shades of both brunette and blonde throughout her career, but lately she’s been rocking a sun-kissed shade that looks incredible. 

Zendaya

Zendaya looks good in everything she wears—including a blonde pixie wig. The beauty and style icon decided to experiment with a new look at the 2017 British Fashion Awards, writing on Instagram, “A platinum blonde pixie tonight cause why not?” 

Selena Gomez

In April 2021, singer, actor, and makeup mogul Selena Gomez said goodbye to her natural hair color and hello to life as a blonde. Gomez debuted the new look on the Instagram account for her makeup company Rare Beauty. The unique shade, dubbed Vintage Blonde, took “200 foils, several bowls of bleach, and 8 hours of hair magic” to achieve, according to her stylists. 

Shailene Woodley

The Big Little Lies star has experimented with blonde hair a couple of times. First in 2014, when she bleached her short hair. She later debuted a beachy blonde look on the 2017 Emmys red carpet. Woodley never seems to stick with the blonde for too long—it is a lot of upkeep—but it seems she likes to dip her toe in the blonde pool every now and then. 

Rihanna 

This billionaire icon loves a next-level hairstyle, so it’s not so surprising to know that she’s gone blonde several times, most notably at the 2012 Grammys. 

Chris Messina

Sharp Objects and The Mindy Project star Chris Messina surprised many at the 2019 Emmys when he showed up with bleached hair. It turns out the change was for his role as Victor Zsasz in Birds of Prey. Special thanks to director Cathy Yan for making this happen.  

Jonah Hill

The Superbad actor first started changing up his color around 2018, debuting a new look at the Game Awards. Since then, he’s kept his hair more or less like that.

Anne Hathaway

After bleaching her hair for a role in the movie Serenity, the Oscar winner revealed that the change had an unexpected upside. “I felt funnier!” she told W. “I don’t know why, but I just felt that I could be funnier while saying less. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but it was just—it’s nice. And it also made me want to do it more in life, like, just mess around with [my hair] and not get too fixed on anything.”

Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo has been rocking blonde hair since 2015. In an April 2017 interview with Essence, the actor described the change as a “light bulb.” “You can’t miss me,” she said. “I just stopped being afraid of my face. My hair was really long, and I just want to spend less time doing it and have you see my face. Never want to hide behind hair. It’s fun and easy to dress.”

Olivia Colman

Best actress winner Olivia Colman decided to attend the 2020 Oscars with bleached hair, a much different look from the brunette hair she had when she won her Oscar, for The Favourite in 2019.

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande made headlines when she dyed her signature brunette high ponytail blonde back in 2018 to ring in her Sweetener era. The pop princess has pretty much kept things platinum ever since. 

Lucy Hale

The Pretty Little Liars star didn’t let her iconic turn as Aria Montgomery keep her from playing around with her color. The actor revealed a lemon-honey blonde bob back in April 2021, but she was already back to her favored chocolate brown shade by August. 

Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato has gone blonde multiple times throughout their career, but the most recent dip into the platinum pond was back in November 2020.

Lily Collins

Lily Collins was blonde as a child, but dark brunette has become her signature look. However, she briefly returned to her roots in 2017 while keeping her brows their natural shade. 

Emilia Clarke

Although Daenerys Targaryen’s signature silver hair probably convinced you that the Emmy-nominated actor who played her is blonde, Emilia Clarke is actually a natural brunette. In 2017, Clarke went blonde again, but has since returned to her natural shade because the bleach dried out her hair.

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart has shown herself to be down to experiment with her hair color. Lately the Spencer star kept her hair consistently blonde and short à la Princess Diana. Stewart first went platinum in 2016.

Leighton Meester

It’s hard to picture Blair Waldorf in any shade of hair but her signature chocolate brown. But did you know that the actor who plays her is a natural blonde? Leighton Meester dyed her hair for her iconic Gossip Girl role, and in 2018 she went platinum for the first time. “It’s definitely a shock every time I see it in a mirror, but in a good way—it’s a makeover, it’s really fun,” she told Elle.

Zoë Kravitz

Our next Catwoman debuted her platinum hair in 2016. Kravitz isn’t platinum anymore, but she experimented while she had it with long braids, a bob, and a pixie cut.

Pete Davidson

Twenty-first century heartthrob and comedian Pete Davidson often makes headlines for the women he’s dating (remember when he went to a Rangers game with Kate Beckinsale?)—but in 2018 he made news for a different reason: going platinum. 

Emma Stone

Emma Stone is known for her red hair, but every now and then the Oscar winner opts for her natural blonde. In 2010, Stone went blonde for her role as Mary Jane in The Amazing Spider-Man films and has pivoted between red, brunette, blonde, and everything in between ever since. In 2017, Stone went full platinum. 

Taraji P. Henson

Taraji. P. Henson is known for her classic brown bob, but the Empire star has gone blonde a few times. Below, check out the sleek honey bob she wore to the MTV TV & Movie Awards in 2017. 

Katy Perry

Ever since Madonna, it’s common to see pop stars change up their look with each album cycle. Katy Perry, known for her dark brown hair, has also tried blue, green, pink, and blonde. At the 2017 MTV Music Awards, Perry debuted an adorable platinum pixie cut. Perry later shared on Ellen that all the bleaching she did caused her hair to fall out so she chopped it off to get rid of the damage. Since then, Perry has grown out her hair and maintained the blonde for the most part. 

Cara Delevingne

The model and actor has gone from blonde to brunette and back several times, even trying out a short platinum look somewhere between a pixie and a buzz cut. Extra points for painting her bald head silver at the 2017 Met Gala.

Solange

Solange looks good in everything she does, including the platinum blonde she debuted during New York Fashion Week 2017.

Bella Hadid

When the Hadid sisters rose to fame, they each rocked a signature shade: Bella’s the brunette; Gigi’s the blonde. But in summer 2019, Bella did the unthinkable: bleached her hair lighter than her sister’s!

Kim Kardashian

Is there a look Kimberly hasn’t attempted? She’s been honey blonde and platinum (including her eyebrows!), and rocked long light waves. She’s even played trickster and used wigs to experiment with lighter styles since as far back as 2009.

Kylie Jenner

Speaking of wigs, Kylie Jenner often employs them to create dramatic transformations. But she blonde dyed her hair in 2016, and it took only nine hours.

Kendall Jenner

The youngest KarJenner has gone blonde a number of times, including in fall 2019, when she walked the runway for Balmain with her hair highlighted honey. A model’s gotta do what a model’s gotta do.

Jared Leto

Remember when Kim Kardashian and Jared Leto went platinum at the same time? Two thousand and fifteen was a big year for peroxide, apparently. The chameleon-like actor bleached not only his hair but his eyebrows to achieve an intense look. Maybe he was trying to reference his character in Fight Club, but it actually reminded us more of the white-haired Karl Lagerfeld. Um, biopic, anyone?

Joe Jonas

Joe Jonas has been on and off with blonde styles through the years, though he has always wisely kept his brows and facial stubble dark. It suits him!

Zayn Malik

Is this the look that made Gigi swoon? Hard to say, because the singer has been a chameleon with his hair ever since he bleached it in 2015. 

Lindsay Lohan

Though iconically a ginger, Lindsay Lohan channeled Marilyn Monroe when she went platinum. And like Marilyn, Lindsay’s had her ups and downs, leading one writer to create an interesting theory that the actor’s color can predict her state of mind.

Miley Cyrus

Wait, is that Miley or Hannah? Though being brunette was essential to the plot of her Disney Channel show, adult Miley Cyrus has skewed much closer to the Barbie blonde of her godmother, Dolly Parton, ever since she debuted honey hair in 2012.