Iggy and the Stooges

▪ American rock group

      American band of the late 1960s and early 1970s that helped define punk music. Both with the Stooges and in his subsequent solo career, Iggy Pop had a far-reaching influence on later performers. The principal members of the band were vocalist Iggy Pop (original name James Jewel Osterberg; b. April 21, 1947, Ypsilanti, Mich., U.S.), bassist Dave Alexander (d. 1975), guitarist Ron Asheton (b. July 17, 1948, Washington, D.C.—found dead Jan. 6, 2009, Ann Arbor, Mich.), and drummer Scott Asheton (b. 1949, Ann Arbor, Mich.).

      In 1967 Osterberg formed the Psychedelic Stooges, taking the name Iggy Stooge. In 1969, its name shortened to the Stooges, the band released its eponymic first album, produced by the Velvet Underground (Velvet Underground, the)'s John Cale. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "No Fun" became proto-punk classics, mixing raw, abrasive rock with insolent lyrics. Destructively energetic and furious, the debut and the band's second album, Funhouse (1970)—along with Iggy's outrageous onstage performances, in which he smeared himself with peanut butter and rolled on broken glass—secured the band's cult status. In 1973 the group released Raw Power, a collaboration with David Bowie (Bowie, David), before disbanding the following year.

      In 1977 Iggy—renaming himself Iggy Pop—released two solo albums, The Idiot and Lust for Life, both produced and cowritten by Bowie in Berlin. The albums, which revealed a new maturity, were praised by critics and gave Iggy his first commercial success. He continued recording through the 1980s and '90s, scoring hits with the new wave-influenced Blah Blah Blah (1986) and the unabashedly pop Brick by Brick (1990). The latter included "Candy," a duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52s and Iggy's first Top 40 single. Iggy also made minor forays into acting, appearing in a number of independent films and lending his trademark drawl to animated characters on television and the big screen.

      In 2003 he reunited the Stooges at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, with former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt filling in for the late Dave Alexander. The enthusiastic reception that greeted the band prompted a three-year tour of festivals in Asia, Europe, and North America. A performance in Tokyo was captured for the live album Telluric Chaos (2005). The Stooges returned to the studio for the first time in more than three decades to record The Weirdness (2007). While the album met with disappointing reviews, the resulting world tour presented the classic Stooges to a new generation of fans.

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