James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor who was the lead vocalist of the proto-punk band the Stooges. Regarded as the "Godfather of Punk," he is noted for his unusual and surprising actions on stage, poetic lyrics, and unique voice. He was named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Stooges in 2010, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 for his solo career.

He had a long collaborative relationship and friendship with David Bowie throughout his career, beginning with the Stooges' album Raw Power in 1973. Both musicians traveled to West Berlin to help each other stop using drugs, and Pop began his solo career by working with Bowie on the 1977 albums The Idiot and Lust for Life, usually writing the lyrics.

Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll (later moving toward more experimental and aggressive rock), the Stooges sold few records in their original form and became known for their confrontational performances, which sometimes included harmful actions to himself during shows. He was one of the first performers to jump off a stage and popularized this activity. Pop often (but not always) performs without a shirt. Iggy’s extreme actions for the audience included cutting himself with broken glass.

Although his popularity has changed over time, many of Pop’s songs have become well known, including "Search and Destroy" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by the Stooges, and his solo hits "Lust for Life," "The Passenger," and "Real Wild Child (Wild One)." In 1990, he recorded his only Top 40 U.S. hit, "Candy," a duet with the B-52s’ singer Kate Pierson. Pop’s song "China Girl" became more widely known when it was re-recorded by co-writer Bowie, who released it as the second single from his most commercially successful album, Let's Dance (1983). Bowie re-recorded and performed many of Pop’s songs throughout his career.

Although Pop has had limited commercial success, he has remained a cultural icon and a significant influence on many musicians across different genres. His music has included a variety of styles, such as garage rock, punk rock, hard rock, heavy metal, art rock, new wave, grunge, jazz, blues, and electronic. His vocal style ranged from deep, smooth singing to loud, wild shouting. The Stooges’ album Raw Power has influenced artists such as Sex Pistols, the Smiths, and Nirvana. His solo album The Idiot has been cited as a major influence on many post-punk, electronic, and industrial artists, including Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, and Joy Division. The album was described by Siouxsie Sioux as a "re-affirmation that our suspicions were true: the man is a genius."

Early life

James Newell Osterberg Jr. was born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, Michigan. He was the son of Louella (born Christensen in 1917 and died in 1996) and James Newell Osterberg (born in 1921 and died in 2007). His father worked as an English teacher and baseball coach at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. On his father’s side, James had English, German, and Irish ancestry. On his mother’s side, his ancestors were Danish and Norwegian. His father was adopted by a Swedish-American nurse whose last name was Osterberg. The family lived in a trailer park in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

At nine years old, Iggy remembered hearing a sound that influenced his music. He heard this sound during a tour at a Ford Motor Company manufacturing plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The sound was from industrial machines. Osterberg began playing drums in the fifth grade. He first used rubber pads attached to wooden boards before his parents bought him a drum set. In a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, he described his relationship with his parents and their role in his musical journey.

He attended Tappan Junior High School, now called Tappan Middle School. Ron Asheton later described Iggy as a typical teenager who associated with popular students who wore chinos, cashmere sweaters, and penny loafers. Iggy did not smoke cigarettes, did not use drugs, and did not drink alcohol.

Music career

Osterberg began his music career as a drummer in high school bands in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He played with groups like the Iguanas, who performed songs such as Bo Diddley's "Mona" in 1965. Later, he joined local blues-style bands, including the Prime Movers, with brothers Dan and Michael Erlewine. He was 18 years old when he joined the Prime Movers. The band gave him the nickname "Iggy" because of his time with the Iguanas. According to biographer Jim Ambrose, the two years he spent in the Prime Movers helped him learn about art, politics, and experimentation.

Osterberg left the University of Michigan and moved to Chicago to learn more about blues. In Chicago, he played drums in blues clubs with help from Sam Lay, who had previously been in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Inspired by Chicago blues and bands like the Sonics, MC5, and the Doors, he formed the Psychedelic Stooges. The band included Osterberg as the singer, Ron Asheton on guitar, Scott Asheton on drums, and Dave Alexander on bass. Their first performance was at a Halloween party in Detroit, Michigan. Members of the MC5 were also there. Osterberg became interested in Ron Asheton after seeing him perform in the Chosen Few, a covers band. He said Ron looked "kind of ill and kind of dirty," which he believed made him a convincing musician. The band members nicknamed Osterberg "Pop" after a local man named Jim Popp, whom he resembled after shaving his eyebrows.

Osterberg's stage style began to develop when he saw the Doors perform in 1967 at the University of Michigan. He was amazed by the singer, Jim Morrison's, dramatic and bold stage behavior. Morrison's extreme actions inspired Osterberg to push the limits of his own performances. Other influences on Osterberg's singing style and stage presence included Mick Jagger and James Brown.

Osterberg also said that seeing an all-girl rock band from Princeton, New Jersey, called the Untouchable, helped inspire the Stooges. In a 1995 interview with Bust magazine, he described this experience.

In 1968, one year after their first live performance, the band was named the Psychedelic Stooges. They signed with Elektra Records, following the example of the Doors, who were Elektra's most famous act at the time. In a 2016 documentary called Gimme Danger, Osterberg described how guitarist Ron Asheton called Moe Howard to ask if the band could be named "The Stooges." Howard responded by saying, "I don't care what they call themselves, as long as they're not The Three Stooges!" and hung up the phone.

The Stooges' first album, The Stooges (on which Osterberg was listed as "Iggy Stooge"), was produced by John Cale in New York in 1969. The band's second album, Fun House, was produced by Don Gallucci in Los Angeles in 1970. These albums sold poorly at first, but Fun House was later ranked No. 191 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003. The group broke up shortly after Fun House was released because of Osterberg's increasing heroin addiction.

In 1971, without a record deal, the Stooges continued performing in small clubs with a five-piece lineup. This included Ron Asheton and James Williamson on guitars, and Jimmy Recca on bass. Osterberg had fired Dave Alexander the previous year because he could not play due to chronic alcoholism. That year, Osterberg met David Bowie at Max's Kansas City, a nightclub in New York City. Bowie helped Osterberg by producing an album in England in 1972. Williamson joined as guitarist, and the band reunited to find a rhythm section. Ron Asheton moved from guitar to bass. The recording sessions produced the album Raw Power. After its release, Scott Thurston joined the band on keyboards. Bowie continued to support Osterberg, but Osterberg's drug problems continued. The Stooges' final performance in 1974 ended in a fight with a group of bikers, which was recorded on the album Metallic K.O. Drug abuse slowed Osterberg's career again for several years.

After the Stooges' second breakup, Osterberg made recordings with James Williamson. These were released in 1977 as Kill City, credited jointly to Osterberg and Williamson. Osterberg struggled with drug use and checked himself into a mental institution, the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, to try to recover. Bowie visited him and continued to support him. In 1976, Bowie took Osterberg on the Station to Station tour. This was Osterberg's first experience with large-scale touring, and he was impressed by Bowie's work ethic. During a show in Rochester, New York, on March 21, 1976, Osterberg and Bowie were arrested for marijuana possession, but the charges were later dropped.

Osterberg and Bowie moved to West Berlin to help each other overcome drug addiction. Oster

Film, television and radio career

Pop has appeared in many movies, including some for children. His movie roles include: Sid and Nancy (a small role where he did not speak), The Color of Money, Hardware (he only provided the voice), The Crow: City of Angels (he wanted to play Funboy in the original The Crow movie, but his schedule did not allow it), The Rugrats Movie, Snow Day, Coffee and Cigarettes (he acted opposite Tom Waits in the third part of the film, "Somewhere in California"), Tank Girl, and Atolladero, a Spanish science fiction Western. Pop worked with Johnny Depp in films such as Cry-Baby and Dead Man.

Pop has also appeared in many television shows, including Tales from the Crypt, The Adventures of Pete & Pete (he played Nona's dad in seasons 2 and 3), and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (he played Yelgrun in the episode "The Magnificent Ferengi"). With The Stooges, he performed at a wedding in an episode of MTV's Bam's Unholy Union. A part of the music video for his song "Butt Town" was shown on Beavis and Butt-Head. Pop also voiced a character named Jerry, the drummer, in the American Dad! episode "American Dream Factory." He played himself as the DJ of a fictional radio station in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. The Stooges song "I Wanna Be Your Dog" was featured on that same station. Pop appears as a character in the animated series The Venture Bros., where he is one of the bodyguards of David Bowie, who is called "The Sovereign." Pop has unclear superpowers that he uses when he and his co-bodyguard, Klaus Nomi, turn against Bowie.

Pop has been featured in several rock documentaries and has songs on many movie soundtracks, including Crocodile Dundee II, Trainspotting, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Haggard, Repo Man, Black Rain, Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, Shocker, and Kurt Cobain: About a Son.

Pop hosts a weekly radio show and podcast called "Iggy Confidential" on BBC Radio 6 Music. In it, he plays a wide variety of music, from punk to jazz, and supports new artists like Shame, Fat White Family, False Heads, and Sleaford Mods. He also supported Mik Artistik, whose song "Sweet Leaf of the North" he named as one of his favorite songs of the 2010s.

• Pop provided the soundtrack for The Brave, a movie directed by and starring Johnny Depp, and contributed music to Depp's film Arizona Dream.
• Pop appeared in the movie Snow Day, where he played a DJ at an ice rink.
• Pop provided voices for characters in the Atari video game DRIV3R, produced by Reflections Interactive.
• Pop voiced Lil' Rummy on Lil' Bush and provided a voice for a character in the English version of the animated film Persepolis.
• Pop appeared in the documentary FLicKeR, which is about Brion Gysin and the Dreamachine.
• In February, Pop played the character Victor in the movie Suck.
• In April, Pop appeared in the film Art House alongside Greta Gerwig, which premiered at the Nashville Film Festival.
• Pop played the conscience of a clown named Elliot in the French film L'Étoile du jour (Morning Star), directed by Sophie Blondy.
• Pop appeared briefly in the French film Les gamins and voiced The Caterpillar in the television series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
• Pop narrated the BBC documentary Burroughs at 100. William Burroughs influenced Pop's writing, including lyrics in the song "Lust for Life."
• Pop voiced the character Texas Red on the animated show Mr. Pickles, which aired from 2014 to 2019.
• A radio drama and bilingual audio book titled Kinder Adams/Children of Adam, based on a German translation of Walt Whitman's poetry, was released in 2014. Pop provided the full reading for the audio book.
• The audio book was broadcast on This American Life in 2015 to celebrate Burroughs' 101st birthday.
• In 2015, Pop starred as Vicious in the silent film Gutterdämmerung, directed by Björn Tagemose, and appeared in the Rammstein documentary Rammstein in Amerika.
• In May 2015, Pop appeared as himself in an episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
• In 2016, Pop was the main subject in the documentary Danny Says, which also featured Danny Fields, Alice Cooper, Judy Collins, Wayne Kramer, and Jac Holzman.
• In 2016, Pop starred in the thriller Blood Orange, playing an aging rock star.
• In 2016, Jim Jarmusch directed Gimme Danger, a documentary about The Stooges.
• In 2016, Pop participated in the documentary To Stay Alive: A Method, which also featured Michel Houellebecq.
• In August 2017, the film In Praise of Nothing, which Pop solely voiced, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.
• In 2017, Pop appeared in Song to Song, directed by Terrence Malick.
• In early 2019, Pop executive produced a four-part documentary series called PUNK for Epix.
• Pop also appeared as a zombie in the 2019 film The Dead Don't Die, directed by Jim Jarmusch.
• In 2021, Pop appeared with Nico Rosberg, a 2016 Formula One champion, in a video for Deutsche Bahn's high-speed train services. The video used his song "The Passenger." Pop also contributed $1,000 to the Detroit City FC public investment fund.

Biopic

As of 2007, The Passenger was the proposed name for a biographical film about Pop's early career with the Stooges. The film was planned to be directed by Nick Gomez, and Elijah Wood was cast to play Pop.

Pop approved of the script but decided not to participate in the film. He stated, "He also called Wood 'a very poised and talented actor.'"

The project seems to have been put on hold.

Classical scholarship

In 1995, a journal called Classics Ireland, which focuses on the study of ancient history and literature, published an article titled "Caesar Lives" (Vol. 2, 1995). The article included reflections by Pop on how Edward Gibbon's book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire relates to the modern world. Pop also described how reading Gibbon's work during a trip to the Southern United States inspired him to create an impromptu speech titled "Caesar." This speech was later included on his 1993 album American Caesar.

Personal life

Iggy Pop lives near Miami, Florida. He has been married three times: to Wendy Weissberg in 1968, but they divorced in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on November 25, 1969; to Suchi Asano from 1984 until their divorce in 1999; and to Nina Alu, whom he married in 2008. He has a son named Eric Benson, born in 1970 from a relationship with Paulette Benson.

It is claimed that Pop had a relationship with 13-year-old Sable Starr when he was 23. Since the MeToo movement began, he has faced criticism for this relationship. A documentary titled Look Away, which discusses sexual abuse in the rock music industry, is named after an Iggy Pop song about Starr from the album Naughty Little Doggie.

Pop was diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition that causes the spine to curve. One of his legs is one-and-a-half inches shorter than the other.

In the 1990s, Pop became friends with Johnny Depp, Jim Jarmusch, and tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw. Shaw mentioned that the four friends wore matching rings with a skull design. Only Pop did not get a similar tattoo with a skull and crossbones.

Iggy Pop has a famous pet named Biggy Pop, a Moluccan cockatoo. Biggy Pop is active on social media, sharing an Instagram page with Iggy. In 2020, Biggy Pop helped support the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital charity. A beer named Biggy Pop Hop was created to raise funds for the same charity.

Legacy

Iggy Pop is often regarded as one of the most important and influential punk rock singers in history. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, "There is perhaps no person in history who has represented punk more than Iggy Pop."

• Music journalist Lester Bangs was among the first to write about the Stooges in a major publication. His article "Of Pop and Pies and Fun" in Creem Magazine was published around the time of the Stooges' second album, Fun House. Another journalist, Legs McNeil, often wrote about Iggy and the Stooges and supported them in many of his works.
• Kurt Cobain repeatedly listed Raw Power as his favorite album of all time in the "Favorite Albums" sections of his journals.
• In August 1995, three Stooges albums were included in Mojo magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time." Fun House was ranked highest, at number 16.
• The Australian band Radio Birdman took their name, though incorrectly, from the lyrics of the Stooges song "1970."
• In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Stooges at number 78 on their list of the 100 most influential artists of the past 50 years.
• Layne Staley expressed that he was a fan of both The Stooges and Iggy Pop.
• Slash included the Stooges' self-titled debut album among his favorite studio recordings.
• Peter Hook listed the Stooges' live album Metallic K.O. as one of his favorite albums.
• In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Iggy Pop at number 176 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
• A song titled "Ten Percenter" on Frank Black's self-titled debut album is about Iggy Pop.

• In the film Velvet Goldmine, Ewan McGregor plays Curt Wilde, a character inspired by Iggy Pop. McGregor performs the Stooges songs "TV Eye" and "Gimme Danger" in the movie.
• In the Super Mario video game series, the character Iggy Koopa was named after Iggy Pop.
• James O'Barr created the character Funboy in The Crow based on Iggy Pop.
• In the 2013 film CBGB, Iggy Pop was portrayed by Taylor Hawkins.
• Iggy Pop appeared as a puppet in the short film Squirrel Mountain: Iggy to the Rescue, where he also performed the song "Frozen Peas" with his guitarist Kevin Armstrong.
• In The Venture Bros., a character named Iggy (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) appears as one of The Sovereign's bodyguards, with The Sovereign portrayed by David Bowie.
• In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (manga and TV series), the character Iggy was named after Iggy Pop because the author, Hirohiko Araki, is a fan of Western music.

Discography

• The Idiot (1977)
• Lust for Life (1977)
• Kill City (with James Williamson) (1977)
• New Values (1979)
• Soldier (1980)
• Party (1981)
• Zombie Birdhouse (1982)
• Blah-Blah-Blah (1986)
• Instinct (1988)
• Brick by Brick (1990)
• American Caesar (1993)
• Naughty Little Doggie (1996)
• Avenue B (1999)
• Beat 'Em Up (2001)
• Skull Ring (2003)
• Préliminaires (2009)
• Après (2012)
• Post Pop Depression (2016)
• Free (2019)
• Every Loser (2023)

Honors

In 2017, shortly after his 70th birthday, Pop was honored as a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Consul General in Miami, acting on behalf of the French government.

A photograph of Pop on stage with fans at the Sydney Opera House in 2019, taken by Antoine Veling, won the Culture category of the Sony World Photography Awards.

Pop received the Polar Music Prize on May 25, 2022.