Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s. He had a long solo UK chart run during the 1970s, with several hits including "Rock and Roll parts 1 & 2", "I Love You Love Me Love", "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" and "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again". Between 1972 and 1995 Glitter charted twenty-six hit singles which spent a total of 180 weeks in the UK Top 100. He continued to record in the 1980s and 1990s, with his 1984 song "Another Rock N' Roll Christmas" being one of the Top 30 Christmas hits of all time. He released seven studio albums, and at least[specify] 15 greatest hits collections or live albums. In 1998, his recording of "Rock and Roll" was listed as one of the "Top 1001 songs in music history."

In the late 1990s Glitter returned to public attention due to his conviction for possession of child pornography in the United Kingdom, and subsequent conviction in Vietnam for committing obscene acts with minors.

At the age of sixteen Glitter was already performing live at London clubs. His career on the London club scene grew, as he appeared at such venues as the Two I's, in Soho, and the Laconda and Safari Clubs. His repertoire consisted of early rock & roll standards and gentle ballads. He got his first break when film producer Robert Hartford Davis discovered Gadd and financed a recording session for Decca Records. At 18, he recorded his first album; under the stage name "Paul Raven" he released his first single, "Alone in the Night", in January 1960.

A year later, with a new manager, Vic Billings, he signed a new recording contract with Parlophone and worked with producer George Martin, before Martin's association with the Beatles. Martin produced two singles, "Walk on By" and "Tower of Strength", but neither sold very well and Raven's recording career reached an impasse. By 1964, while Martin's work with the Beatles was conquering the world, Raven was reduced to playing the warm-up for the British television programme Ready Steady Go!. He did numerous TV commercials and film auditions, and in the course of those activities met arranger-producer Mike Leander who eventually helped revive his career.

First, Raven joined the Mike Leander Show Band in early 1965. Then he was deputised to produce a few recording sessions by such artists as Thane Russell and a Scottish beat group, the Poets. After Leander's group disbanded, Raven formed Boston International with saxophonist John Rossall, and spent the following five years touring the UK and Germany, recording occasionally. By 1970, several singles, including "Musical Man", "Goodbye Seattle" and a version of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun", put Raven back into record stores. As the glam movement hit full swing in 1971, Raven took the new name Gary Glitter, which he devised by playing alliteratively with letters of the alphabet, working backwards from 'Z'. Other options included Terry Tinsel, Stanley Sparkle and Vicky Vomit. The style that would come to define Gary Glitter had taken its basic shape.

The song that at last made Gary Glitter's name and career began as a fifteen-minute jam, whittled down to a pair of three-minute extracts released as the A and B sides of a single, called "Rock and Roll, Parts One and Two". "Rock and Roll (Part Two)" would prove to be the more popular side in many countries, although it took about six months before it made its full impact, going to number two on the British pop charts and reaching the Top Ten in the United States, one of the few British glam rock records to do so. "Rock and Roll (Part One)" was also a hit: in France it made number one and in the UK both sides were listed together on the charts.

"Rock and Roll" was followed by other successes: for the next three years, Glitter, backed by the Glitter Band on stage, challenged Sweet, Slade and T.Rex for domination of the charts. To reinforce his image, he reportedly owned thirty glitter suits and fifty pairs of silver platform boots. He also released several singles which became British Top Ten hits, with "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" being his first single to reach number one in the summer of 1973, and "I Love You Love Me Love", its follow-up, his second. Even an atypical ballad, "Remember Me This Way", went to number three. He had twelve consecutive Top Ten singles, from 1972's "Rock and Roll (Parts One and Two)" to "Doing Alright With the Boys" in the summer of 1975.

"Rock and Roll (Part Two)" caught on as a popular sports anthem in North America. Often used as a goal song or celebration song, fans chanted out "Hey!" along with the chorus. In light of Glitter's court convictions (see below), some teams have stopped using the song, though it remains heavily played.

Despite his success in the UK, Glitter never made the same impact in the U.S., where, at best, glam rock was seen as a curiosity. Glitter had one more entry on the U.S charts with "I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock 'n Roll)"; after that, however, the closest chart success for Glitter was a cover recording of "I'm the Leader of the Gang" by Brownsville Station.

After "Doing Alright With the Boys", Glitter won the award for Best Male Artist at the Saturday Scene music awards hosted by LWT. His next release was a cover of the Rivingtons' rhythm and blues legend, "Papa Oom Mow Mow", but it got no higher than number 38 on the British charts. After subsequent releases stalled in similar fashion, Gary Glitter announced his retirement from music in early 1976. That same year, his first true hits package, simply titled Greatest Hits, was released. It entered the UK Top 40 best-sellers charts. A similar budget album, entitled I Love You Love Me Love, was issued by Hallmark Entertainment the following year.