Photo by Tour Bus Live
Hard to believe, but today legendary punk rocker Iggy Pop turns 75-years-old! Born James Newell Osterberg Jr. on April 21, 1947, Iggy has been deemed the “Godfather of Punk” for his innovation in music as the frontman of proto-punk band The Stooges (also referred to as Iggy Pop & The Stooges) who formed in 1967. His life is full of some of the wildest and most infamous stories in rock ‘n’ roll history, but here’s a few fun facts you may not have known about the rocker:
- He started his music career as a drummer, and The Iguanas was one of his first bands which he joined in the early ’60s.
- The Stooges used to be called The Psychedelic Stooges.
- David Bowie was a close friend of Iggy’s and he produced three of his albums.
- When Jim Morrison passed away, Iggy Pop was asked to join The Doors, but he declined the offer.
- Iggy Pop is said to have pioneered the stage dive, which was a frequent stunt of his that wasn’t always successful.
- Computer animators based the creature Gollum on Iggy Pop’s body and movement style in the Lord Of The Rings movie series.
- Iggy Pop is the owner of a cockatoo named Biggy Pop, who you can follow on Instagram.
- Iggy Pop is an arts enthusiast and gets more joy from looking at paintings than most other things.
- Iggy Pop has over 58 acting credits on IMDB.
- Iggy performed on American Idol in 2011
Watch Iggy Pop & The Stooges perform in Sydney, Australia live in 1970 here:
