  Iggy Pop was born James Newell
Osterberg on April 21, 1947 in Michigan. His
musical journey throughout the 70s, 80s, and
even 90s led him to be known as one of the
pioneers of punk-rock music. He began calling
himself "Iggy" after his first band
in high school, The Iguanas.
 From 1969 to 1974,
Iggy was the lead member of The
Stooges. When the band broke up,
Iggy opted for a solo music career. In 1977,
Iggy got some help from his friend David
Bowie who produced his first 2 solo
LPs: The
Idiot released in March and Lust
For Life released in September. The
Idiot included the track "China
Girl" made famous by Bowie a decade
later. Iggy closed out the decade with more
rock music (the live LP T.V.
Eye and New
Values released in October, 1979)
with a punk edge perfect for the developing
"new wave" style of music.
 Iggy continued his musical
ambitions into the early 80s with a new LP
each year: Soldier (1980),
Party (June, 1981),
and Zombie
Birdhouse, produced by Blondie's Chris Stein (1982).
After taking some time off from music (with
the exception of helping Bowie with his hit
"China Girl"), Iggy returned in 1986
and with Bowie producing his LP, Blah,
Blah, Blah released in October. Iggy had
some success with the tracks "Cry For
Love" and "Real Wild Child."
In 1989, Iggy released Instinct which many considered
more heavy metal than punk rock. In
February, 1989, Iggy was
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance ("Cold
Money").
 Iggy entered the 90s by
appearing in the film Cry
Baby and with a new LP, Brick
By Brick, produced by Don Was of Was
(Not Was) and released in July, 1990.
The LP eventually spawned a Top 20 pop hit:
"Candy" with Kate
Pierson of The B-52's. With heavy airplay of
"Candy" on music video
channels, a new generation of fans embraced
Iggy's music and helped Brick
By Brick climb the LP charts.
Iggy could also be heard on the Cole Porter
cover compilation LP Red
Hot + Blue with his duet with Debbie
Harry, "Well, Did You
Evah!" Iggy released American
Caesar in 1993 in
June (and appeared in an episode of Tales
From The Crypt) and Naughty
Little Doggy in 1996.
 A hits compilation , Nude
& Rude: The Best Of Iggy Pop, was also released. Rolling
Stone said of Iggy: "...if Iggy had
died ahead of schedule, he would just be
another rock & roll martyr... instead,
the fun house is still open for
business..." Iggy appeared in The
Crow: City Of Angels as "Curve."
In 1997, Iggy could be seen
acting in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
and in June he could be seen in the hospital
after a stage dive by Iggy ended up as a
dislocated shoulder. Iggy was nominated for a
MTV Video Music
Award for Best Video from a Film for "Lust For
Life" (from Trainspotting). In 1998,
Iggy released Your
Pretty Face Is Going To Hell. In May, Iggy was
ranked # 83 on VH1: Greatest
Artists of Rock & Roll (and
# 85 on Rock On The Net's
Poll). A live LP by Iggy, Sister
Midnight was released at the
end of July with recordings from 1977 in
Ohio.
 In July, 2001,
Iggy released Beat
'Em Up. In November, 2003,
Iggy released Skull
Ring. In July, 2005,
A
Million In Prizes: The Anthology was released. In
December, 2008, the Rolling Stone:
'The Greatest Singers' includes Iggy at # 75.
In June, 2009, Preliminaires was released
(available for download at iTunes and Amazon-mp3) (Billboard peak: # 187 - Rolling Stone:  ). In March, 2010,
Iggy was inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall Of Fame with The Stooges.
Iggy & The Stooges
released Ready
To Die in 2013.
| Note: Song title and
position links lead you to the song's Top
40 chart run (from the ARC Weekly Top
40)
and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound
samples). |
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