Iggy Pop retires from stage diving, aged 75
After more than 50 years
Punk legend Iggy Pop has announced he’s retiring from stage diving at the sprightly age of 75.
The shirtless septuagenarian singer, who is often crediting with popularising stage diving with The Stooges in the late 60s, previously announced his retirement from stage diving over 12 years ago after he injured himself at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Pop launched himself into the audience at the March 2010 show, however the crowd parted leaving him with severe bruising.
He told Jam! Showbiz at the time: “When I landed it hurt and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive. The audience were just like, ‘What are you doing?'”
Despite his retirement announcement, Iggy Pop has continued stage diving until this very year, as this footage from a June 2022 show in The Netherlands proves:
However, in a fresh interview with the NME, Pop has confirmed he won’t be stage diving ever again.
“I’ve left the proscenium a few times if the crowds were too dull just to whip ’em up, but mostly I didn’t have to,” he explained. “I won’t do the dives again. I’ve managed to survive it mostly and I’m too rickety for that now.”
Iggy Pop releases his nineteenth solo album ‘Every Loser’ on 6th January 2023, and it features a raft of guest performers including Duff McKagan, Chad Smith, Josh Klinghoffer, Travis Barker, Stone Gossard, Dave Navarro and the late-great Taylor Hawkins.
Commenting on Taylor Hawkins’ contribution to the tracks ‘Comments’ and ‘The Regency’, Iggy Pop told NME: “Taylor came in with incredible style.
“I’m very fortunate to have that colour on the record. I was really sad and shocked to hear about him. I happened to know that hotel where he was. I’ve stayed in that town. The whole thing was something else. He did have a wonderful career doing what he wanted to do, and by all accounts, a good life.
“He drums up a storm on those tracks, and you can really hear it. He has this sort of bubbling quality, it’s really percolating.”
Iggy Pop headlines the Dog Day Afternoon concert at London’s Crystal Palace Park on Saturday 1st July 2023, with Blondie and Generation Sex supporting.
Generation Sex are a punk supergroup featuring Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X alongside Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols.
The real names of famous rock stars, including Iggy Pop:
Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks
Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović
'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'
Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker
John 5’s real name: John William Lowery
Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback
Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont
Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello
Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano
Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock
King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen
Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson
Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm
Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou
Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga
Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano
Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti
Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose
Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott
Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick
Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III
Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola
Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara
Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary
Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein
Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib
Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal
Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III
Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison
Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg
Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz
Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray
Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.
Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier
Slash's real name: Saul Hudson
Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard
Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona
Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson
Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer
Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones
Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler
Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks
Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell
Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen
Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton
Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan
Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black
Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister
John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin
Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin
Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp
Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion
Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth
David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones
Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman
Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie
Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley
Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank
Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor
Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld
The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans
Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday
Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico
Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne
Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi
Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini
Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis
Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson
Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner
Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad
Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler
Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo
Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel
Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield
Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks
Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch
Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk
Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira
Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)
Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt
Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan
Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke
Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford
M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders
Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett
Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine
Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls
Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews
Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis
Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum
Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain
Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder
Steel Panther’s real names
Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.