Iggy Pop, whose real name is James Newell Osterberg Jr., is an American singer-songwriter nicknamed the 'Godfather of Punk' and most notably known for having been the frontman of The Stooges in the mid-1960s. He will also maintain a deep friendly and professional relationship with David Bowie throughout his career, whether on a group or solo level.
He is also particularly known for his shirtless stage performances as well as his unique antics and posturing. He is also one of the first to popularize the public jumping from the stage.
He started his artistic career as a drummer in several groups at his school, including The Iguanas, a group which released a title with great esteem success during 1965. And his nickname 'Iggy' would be a derivative of word Iguanas ...
We find him some time later on the side of Chicago where he begins by playing in Clubs before forming a group called Psychedelic Stooges. He surrounded himself with brothers Ron and Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander. And it is the influence of Jim Morrisson's stage performances that will allow him to develop an extraordinary stage performance from the start.
Group which signs with Elektra Records in 1968, label which allows them to release a year later in 1969 a first album under the group name Stooges. Album with fairly modest success, just like the album "Fun house" which was released the following year in 1970. Two failures in quick succession and an addiction of Iggy Pop to the heroine which precipitated the dismissal of the group from label in the following months.
This did not prevent the group from returning to the Clubs from 1971 with a somewhat reshaped team. And it is that year that Iggy Pop will meet David Bowie in a New York night club, a providential meeting that will boost the career of the young singer in an unexpected way.
The Stooges managed to release a new album "Raw Power" in 1973 with a new label, an album that will not go unnoticed this time. But Pop's recurring drug-related problems once again plague the future of the band, which once again split up in the process.
Supported by Bowie, the singer decides this time to treat his addiction and decides to undergo detoxification. The thing being done, we find him 3 years later in 1976 alongside Bowie in one of his tours. Tour that strongly impresses Pop, especially Bowie's incredible work ability.
It is the year 1977 and especially the signing with the RCA Records label that will allow him to finally go solo. He will co-write and produce with Bowie 2 albums this year, just that ! Two albums "The idiot" and "Lust for life" which will be a definite success on both sides of the Atlantic. Two albums highlighted by the nice success of the track "The passenger" and to a lesser extent of the track "Lust for life".
Change of label two years later in 1979 and move to Arista Records. Label that allows him to produce the album "News values". Album which saw the singer's fame spread to the planetary level but which would only produce a single major single with the title "I’m bored". On the other hand, her stint on the Australian musical show Countdown to promote the album will remain in the annals : anarchic playback, posturing of all kinds and forays into the public will make this moment one of the greatest moments of this event broadcast and will give birth to the legend on the singer's extraordinary personality ...
New album "Soldier" a year later in 1980, album with mixed success and which, like its predecessor, failed to produce a single of global class. And the album "Party" which came out in 1981 did even worse, with the singer being fired by the label as a consequence. Not to mention a more or less certain return to drugs ...
He still managed to release a new album "Zombie birdhouse" in 1982 thanks to the Animal Records label. Album which will be a total failure ...
But a miracle will occur the same year and not the least : the title "China girl" on her album "The idiot" dating from 1977 will be taken up by Bowie in 1983 which will make it a huge planetary hit. Thus allowing Pop to receive substantial royalties which will allow him to avoid personal and financial shipwreck ...
Secured financially, the singer decides to go back to rehab and take acting lessons. Break that will last 3 years ...
A particularly beneficial break which saw him return in 1986 in a certain form. Forme which sees him release a new album "Blah-Blah-Blah" thanks to the help once again of Bowie. And this time, the album is a real success : the album is a real worldwide hit and will produce the most big single from all his discography namely "Real wild child (Wild one)".
New album "Instinct" two years later in 1988, album which will not really know the same level of success as its predecessor, at least on the singles side. With the consequence of a new eviction of a label.
The label changes were particularly successful for him since his stint with Virgin enabled him to release the album "Brick by brick" in 1990, an album which impressively put him back in the race. In particular thanks to three singles which are "Livin 'on the edge of the night", "Home" but also, and above all, the enormous "Candy", single which he interprets in duet with the very talented Kate Pierson of B- 52's.
New shocking but above all charming duo in 1991 with singer Debbie Harry on the title “Well did you evah !», title for the benefit of research against AIDS. And new big caliber single "In the death car" in 1992 on the soundtrack of the movie Arizona Dream.
The year 1993 saw the release of the album "American Caesar", album which allowed him to stay in contact with the best with the single "Wild America" that year and "Beside you" a year later in 1994.
Three years will separate this album from the following album "Naughty little Doggie", album which will not really know the same level of success as its predecessor in 1996. A year 1996 which will be saved by the successful release of the title "Lust for life”, title on the soundtrack of the film Trainspotting.
A major success which unfortunately will be his last. Other albums will be released later, but none will allow him to come back in the race for a long time. Apart from the album "The Weirdness" which he produced in 2007 with a version of the resuscitated Stooges and the solo album "Post Pop depression" which will be released in 2016 and with which he will experience a last single success with the title "Gardenia".
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
60s Decade :
I wanna be your dog (The Stooges) 1969
1969 (The Stooges) 1969
70s Decade :
Down on the street (The Stooges) 1970
Search and destroy (The Stooges) 1973
Shake appeal (The Stooges) 1973
Raw power (The Stooges) 1973
I got a right (The Stooges) 1977
The passenger 1977
Sister midnight 1977
China girl 1977
Lust for life 1977
Kill city 1978
Some weird sin 1978
I’m bored 1979
Five foot one 1979
80s Decade :
Loco mosquito 1980
Dog food 1980
Bang bang 1981
Pumpin’ for Jill 1981
Run like a villain 1982
Cry for love 1986
Real wild child (wild one) 1986
Shades 1987
Fire girl 1987
Isolation 1987
Cold metal 1988
High on you 1988
90s Decade :
Livin’ on the edge of the night 1990
Home 1990
Candy 1990
The undefeated 1991
Well, did you evah ! 1991
In the death car 1993
Wild america 1993
Beside you 1994
Family affair 1995
To belong 1996
Monster men 1997
2000s Decade :
Little know it all 2004
The weirdness (Iggy And The Stooges) 2007
King of the dogs 2009
2010s Decade :
Sex and money (Iggy And The Stooges) 2013
Gardenia 2016
Sunday 2016
Get your shirt 2018
James Bond 2019
Loves missing 2019
2020s Decade :
Frenzy 2022
Strung out Johnny 2023
New Atlantis 2023
All the way down 2023
Tracks :
1969 ... the very beginnings. Aged 22, the young James embarks on the Stooges adventure. An adventure which will only last a few years but which will mark the spirits, it is clear ...
1969 ... paradoxically, the group struggled to produce any single of global class but will go down in history as the precursor of the Protopunk movement. An entire program...
1970 ... a group with unique rock influences and from which many groups will be inspired in the decades that will follow. A phenomenon group !
1973 ... the BIG year of the group. The group is reaching full maturity and is finally experiencing success at the highest level. It was time !
1973 ... it is clear that they will never be in finesse, not really their core target. A bias that will be as much their strength as their weakness ...
1973 ... the group will be unable to vary its style and will eventually isolate himself. Precursors, of course, but too much rock kills rock at one point ...
1977 ... straddling two eras. The end of the Stooges and the start of the solo career. It remains to be seen what James will offer us next ...
1977 ... he will prove in a masterly way with this title that he can exist by himself. He simply signs here one of his most emblematic titles and begins his solo career in the best possible way !
1977 ... a style that no longer has much to do with the Stooges. On the other hand, the totally wacky side will last and become his trademark forever ...
1977 ... a title that will go almost unnoticed, at least for this version. Because Bowie will take the same title a few years later and make it one of the most emblematic titles of the 80s. Yes, yes, it is possible !
1983 ... this is what Bowie will do with it ! Like what, a slightly different musical arrangement can change everything ! An 80s version that will shatter everything in its path and offer David Bowie one of his greatest successes !
1977 ... a year 1977 which sees him explode in solo in an impressive way. Plethora of titles, certainly in quantity but also in quality. With the climax of this title which will finally bring him its first ranked title !
1978 ... as paradoxical as it may seem, after an exceptional year 1977 in all respects,1978 will seem somewhat pale. Can and must do better !
1978 ... he will succeed in saving the year with this title. But the titles that will be released now will benefit from a fairly variable quality, at least until the beginning of the next decade ...
1979 ... he will land a small hit in Australia with this title, sufficient in any case to allow him to finish the 70s relatively calmly. It remains to be seen what the following decade has in store for him ...
1979 ... the last title of the 1970s, a decade that saw him explode solo and take off. Will the 1980s be the decade of the landing or the decade of the irrepressible rise to the stars ? Good question...
1980 ... an 80s decade which started again on almost the same bases as the previous one. He will have to evolve somewhat musically if he wants to exist for a time or a little during this decade ...
1980 ... the evolution is slow but certain, it is clear. Too bad there is always this slightly trashy side which somewhat spoils each title ...
1981 ... and as if by chance, as soon as he erases this trashy side, success returns as if by magic. The proof with this title ...
1981 ... he now sticks well to the latest musical trends and all that remains is to produce THE title that will finally allow him to become once and for all in the musical legend of the 80s ...
1982 ... a year of transition which saw him set off again in his faults. With the consequence of a year almost for nothing except the production of this title ...
1986 ... it will take him 4 years to get back on his feet and return to more than certain form. Starting with this title which finally brings him back to the forefront. Phew ...
1986 ... a comeback not only which is confirmed but which at the same time allows him to finally win the timpani solo with this title. He finally signs THE title which allows him to definitively obtain his place in the musical Pantheon of the 80s. All thanks to this revisited version of Johnny O'Keefe's title dating from 1958. HU-GE !
1987 ... new success, admittedly limited exclusively to England, but that's still it as they say. A second part of the 80s clearly more favorable to the singer. We came close to leaving the road at the start of the decade but he managed to reverse the trend just in time ...
1987 ... he unrolls with more than certain ease in this year 1987. Each title that comes out is inspired even if they will not all know the same fate in the Charts ...
1987 ... he would have frankly deserved a much higher recognition on the singles side in this year 1987 because there is no waste, it is clear. But he has dragged his trashy side like a ball for years and he is paying it once again at the end of the 1980s when he is far from unworthy, it is clear ...
1988 ... but as soon as he can he returns to his fundamentals. Not sure this is the right strategy to capture the general public. Too bad because the year 1987 had brought him back on the right track ...
1990 ... as soon as he calms things down, everything is sorted out as if by magic with the key to another major success for this title. Hope it lasts !
1990 ... he finds almost the same level of success as in 1986. Normally, given his potential, this is the level of success he should have had every year since his solo debut. Normally...
1990 ... here he is playing it in duo mode, moreover a shocking duo but also charming, which does not spoil anything. It must be said that by partnering with Kate Pierson of the B-52's, he knew that the result would be enormous. And it is, in every way. HU-GE !
1991 ... a decade of the 90s which saw him calm things down a little and who would complain about it ! It must be said that he has just attacked his 4th decade as a singer and that the time has come to question himself once again, especially in the face of competition from young people who are at least 20 years younger than him...
1991 ... Kate Pierson, Debbie Harry, one cannot say that he pushes the ditty with the less gifted of the female gente. With once again a result largely up to the task. Definitely, women bring him luck !
1993 ... women bring him luck but so do the soundtracks. He delivers here a sumptuous title for the soundtrack of the film 'Arizona Dream' and proves in a masterly way that he can also be gifted for titles with finesse. Like what !
1993 ... where the art of going from one extreme to another ! We thought he had really calmed down but here he is back on his favorite lands purely rock. One step forward, two steps back ...
1994 ... the ultra rock parenthesis is immediately closed which prevents a premature exit from the road. This also allows him to set off again on much calmer paths and more suited to the general public ...
1995 ... an excellent title which will pass somewhat under the radar. It must be said that it will only be marketed in a limited number of countries, de facto limiting its impact on the public. Frankly shame ...
1996 ... there is nothing to do, he has to return systematically to his rock fundamentals on a regular basis. With the key each time a free fall in the Charts. But when will he understand ...?
1997 ... another little soundtrack this time for the cartoon 'Space Goofs'. This one will not have the same level of success as the previous one but largely holds up. Isn't that the main thing ...
2004 ... then nothing more interesting until this year 2004. It is sure that the decade 2000 will not have much to do with the decade which preceded it in terms of success but he continues to believe in it over and over again. Rightly or wrongly, that's something else ...
2007 ... who would have believed it, here he is reforming the Stooges ! A crazy bet, a bet almost lost in advance and yet it will work. Like what...
2009 ... the Stooges new version page closed, here he is back solo on a track completely out of time and his usual style. Decidedly, his desire to think outside the box makes him do things that are surprising to say the least ...
2013 ... 6 years later, he reopens the Stooges page again. Decidedly, he will never be able to definitively end this incredible adventure. And once again, it works !
2016 ... for some time we have been telling ourselves each time that this time will be the last. It is very bad to know him. 50 years after its debut, still there the guy. Respect as they say !
2016 ... it is clear that he is now more figurative than anything else but who would blame him. With such a career, he is the kind of artist who we dare not say to stop there for good ...
2018 ... and it continues ! A desire to continue at all costs, to say the least, incredible, especially when you see the age he is now. But where does he get all this energy ...?
2019 ... a decade in 2010 which at least had the merit of seeing him explore a bunch of new musical tracks. Enough to show other facets of his talent and we can only congratulate him !
2019 ... and as it started, we imagine that we will see him again the following decade. Because nothing, and no one, is able to stop him. Except fate of course. But that, who can anticipate ...
2022...
2023...
2023...
2023...
Wiki :
Official Website :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :