“The Godfather of Punk”
Next topless: Iggy Pop celebrates 75th birthday
Iggy Pop still likes to be bare-chested.
© Special/NOTIMEX / DPA
On stage, Iggy Pop crawled naked through glass, slathered himself in peanut butter, or poured hot water down his pants. At 75, he’s no longer completely insane – but still scantily clad.
If only you could feel as comfortable naked as Iggy Pop! Still living up to his image as the “Godfather of Punk” as he turns 75 on Thursday, he continues to go topless in front of fans around the world to sing songs like “The Passenger.” Only in Russia he will not appear for the time being.
Iggy Pop: The “Godfather of Punk” is 75 years old
“At my age, it helps to stay curious,” Pop recently told the British “Guardian” – and was indignant at those who say that everything was better in the past. “I’m sick of hearing old boys say you shouldn’t use synth instruments”. No wonder, since the American is considered a musician himself, who has never stopped in his development and has always tried out new things.
However, one of the things that stayed the same was Pop’s fondness for nudism. There is no prescribed age from which you can no longer show your upper body naked in public, he once said. “And the public can fuck me anyway.” Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes – after decades of excess, Iggy Pop has now renounced all of that. “Late in life I developed a wonderful relationship with my body. Just the thought of marijuana now scares me.”
Sports instead of drugs: Iggy Pop survived the rock star lifestyle
Instead, he plays sports and still performs. The last album “Free” was only released in 2019, and after a compulsory Corona break, concerts are planned again. Iggy Pop survived his most destructive years and is still at it, unlike many of his peers.
Iggy Pop was born James Newell Osterberg in 1947 in a poor trailer park in Michigan. “It was insanely small and I only realized later what that taught me.” “I learned harmony with other people and that was essential. Only when I went out into the big world did I realize that it wasn’t like that.”
Iggy Pop was punk before punk even existed
Iggy Pop, nicknamed for his high school band The Iguanas, was punk before punk even existed. Instead of love, peace and togetherness, he and his band The Stooges sang about the boredom and frustration of his generation in the late 1960s. In his stage shows, he demonstrated that only pain could free him from boredom: He crawled naked through broken glass, smeared himself with peanut butter, poured hot water over his pants and staggered off the stage bleeding.
In the long run, “The Ig” couldn’t hold out and he kept disappearing from the scene, including in drug withdrawal. But his best friend David Bowie kept pushing him back onto the stage. Together they produced several albums: “The Idiot” (1977) with the co-written later Bowie hit “China Girl”, “Lust For Life” (1977) with the disco long-running “The Passenger” and the live LP ” TV Eye” (1978). Iggy Pop landed the big hit in 1987 with the cover version of “Real Wild Child”. It was his first top ten finish. Decades later, pop is still in demand all over the world.
He also positions himself politically. In view of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, he announced that he would not be playing at the Park Life Festival in Moscow as planned: “Due to current events, this is necessary. Our thoughts are with the Ukrainians and all the courageous people who are standing up to this violence oppose and seek peace,” he said on Twitter. His fans praised him for it – and in return demanded more appearances in the USA.