He was one of the first performers to do a stage-dive and popularized the activity.

Throughout his career, he is well known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics, poetic lyrics and distinctive voice. Both musicians went to West Berlin to wean themselves off their respective drug addictions and Pop began his solo career by collaborating with Bowie on the 1977 albums The Idiot and Lust for Life, Pop usually contributing the lyrics. He had a long collaborative relationship and friendship with David Bowie over the course of his career, beginning with the Stooges' album Raw Power in 1973. I assume he actually will die on stage, one day, but I never dreamed it would be of natural causes.Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll (progressing later towards more experimental and aggressive rock), the Stooges sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Pop.

While our own parents are rightfully enjoying their twilight years with a good book, and a daily nap, Iggy Pop is still hitting the road. Even septuagenarians who are still touring have settled into their new roles as elder statespeople, but the same Iggy Pop, who once smeared peanut butter on his chest, while simultaneously inventing stage-diving, seems every bit as capable of repeating that in honor of the pivotal event’s 52nd anniversary. Absolutely shamed bands half his age, pulling shapes, and never sitting still for the duration of the set, which was one jackhammer song after another. The last time I saw Pop perform, at the HAVEN festival in Copenhagen, he was a strapping young buck of 70, and he gave it everything. Maybe he was born with superhuman genes, or it was the third act dedicated to fitness, but let’s just say it’s unlikely that I’ll be seen shirtless on the reg around the time of my golden anniversary, even after living a life of minimal vice. Who knew this scoliosis-affected self-abuser was going to outlive people who lived much cleaner lives? Perhaps a Faustian contract is involved. As with Keef, nobody saw that untimely life coming. As one of rock’s legendary wild men, people assumed the obituary was forthcoming, likely from some IV drug use mishap, but also, perhaps, from cutting himself open with broken glass during performance-induced ecstasy.Īnd yet here we are, celebrating the natal anniversary of the three-quarters-of-a-century old James N. Pop and Bowie would go on to make incredible music together, living together somewhere at the intersection of “married couple” and “buddy movie,” simultaneously getting namechecked by Kraftwerk, who are not known for doing that kind of thing. This “idiot” goes on to inspire legions of punk bands, having pretty much invented the art form, but also artists like David Bowie, particularly the Berlin era, which along with the Kraut scene gave birth to New Wave. He jerks and moves like an ostrich, fitting given his birth surname, but is actually wise as an owl. He wiggles his body like a snake and preens like an animal that’s about to eviscerate you, in stark contrast to the UK glam types. He acts this out as a straight up Id Machine. Nothing is sacred, and everything is a target for Iggy’s ire, as he assumes the self-appointed role as some sort of Psychopathic Court Jester. Loud, straightforward power chords, repetitive riffs, and often simple lyrics about how S is completely F’ed. Said bad drugs are definitely in the mix, but what the fans are seeing is punk rock in its nascency. At the same time, Iggy and The Stooges are developing their new role as framing the state of things with a darkly comedic eye. In Detroit – because it’s often Detroit where the revolution happens (see Techno less than 20 years later) – The MC5, are trying to figure out how they can really get into the trenches, to help their black brothers and sisters. The Rock n’ Roll elite are drugging it up in each others’ mansions, dropping by in their Rolls Royces, while still making pithy statements about living together as one.

Iggy pop birthday