Iggy Pop Biography

Iggy Pop was the front man for the rock band The Stooges (1967-74); his on-stage antics (including self-mutilation) and raw sound made him a hero for punk rockers a decade later. He’s even been called “the godfather of punk.”

Although his record sales have always been modest, Iggy Pop emerged from a turbulent, drug-filled rock’n’roll lifestyle to become an elder statesman of sorts, inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame with The Stooges in 2010.

His most successful music came in the 1970s and ’80s, when he collaborated with David Bowie. Bowie then recorded several Iggy Pop songs, helping to give Pop a financial security through hits such as “China Girl” (Bowie’s version came on his bestselling album Let’s Dance).

Pop recovered from a heroin addiction in the early 1980s and went back to recording; in 1986 he had his first hit single with “Real Wild Child” (a favorite in Australia and New Zealand particularly).

Iggy Pop has also dabbled in acting and appeared in small roles on small and big screens, including The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1994-96) and the Jim Jarmusch films Coffee and Cigarettes (2003, with Tom Waits) and The Dead Don’t Die (2019, starring Adam Driver).

He has also lent his distinctive deep voice to animated shows, including American Dad (2007) and Li’l Bush (2007-08), and to the video game Grand Theft Auto.

Iggy Pop was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2020.