- published: 14 Jun 2009
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Iggy Pop (/ˈɪɡi pɒp/; born James Newell Osterberg, Jr.; April 21, 1947) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is the vocalist of influential proto-punk band The Stooges, who reunited in 2003, and has been known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics.
Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the course of his career, including garage rock, hard rock, new wave, jazz, art rock and blues. Though his popularity has fluctuated through the years, many of Pop's songs have become well-known, including "Lust for Life", "The Passenger", "Real Wild Child", "Candy" (a duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's), "China Girl", "Nightclubbing", "Search and Destroy" and "I Wanna Be Your Dog".
In 2010, The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
James Newell Osterberg, Jr. was born in Muskegon, Michigan, the son of Louella (née Christensen) and James Newell Osterberg, Sr., a former high school English teacher and baseball coach at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. Osterberg was raised in a trailer park in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is of English and Irish descent on his father's side, and of Norwegian and Danish ancestry on his mother's. His father was adopted by a Swedish American family and took on their surname (Österberg). In a 2007 Rolling Stone Magazine interview, Pop explains his relationship with his parents and their contribution to his music:
Rapper standing on the corner
Wrappers flying in the wind
Waitress up from Alabama
Can't believe the cold she's in
And me, I'm sitting in my castle
On the verge of a divorce
And if I haven't got a hassle
I'll create my own, of course
Still I gotta live with my feelings
But I know about science too
And fame and death and money
And what they do to you
And I am gonna need a miracle
I am gonna need a miracle
I am gonna need a miracle
Tonight on Avenue B
I bought about a hundred candles
I'm burnin' em both night and day
I'm sleepin' when I should be eatin'
Cryin' when I should be gay
My girlfriend's warm and loves me
She's knockin' but she can't get in
I'm a product of the paranoia
Of the age I'm in
And I am gonna need a miracle
I'm really gonna need a miracle
I'm really gonna need a miracle
Tonight on Avenue B
I see the students out my window
They're walking in their student clothes
Eatin' books and information
To make their understanding grow
But this much I understand
It's hard to be an empty man
But since I gave `em every part of me
I ain't free
And I am gonna need a miracle
I am gonna need a miracle
I am gonna need a miracle
Tonight on Avenue B
I am gonna need a miracle
I am gonna need a miracle
I am gonna need a miracle