Music
Iggy Pop
born 1947 · singer, songwriter
Frontman of the Stooges, the Ann Arbor band that roared out of Detroit's Grande Ballroom, and the “Godfather of Punk,” inspired as a boy by the din of Ford's Rouge plant.
- Born
Muskegon, Michigan
age 79- Birth name
- James Newell Osterberg Jr.
- Also known as
- Iggy Stooge · The Godfather of Punk
- Detroit years
- 1950s–1973
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Iggy Pop was born James Osterberg in Muskegon and grew up in a trailer park in Ypsilanti, between Detroit and Ann Arbor. He later said that a visit to Ford's River Rouge Plant at age nine, with its industrial roar, shaped his idea of music. He drummed in Ann Arbor high-school bands such as the Iguanas, briefly attended the University of Michigan, and studied the blues in Chicago before forming the Stooges in 1967 with Ron and Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander. Seeing Jim Morrison perform in Ann Arbor helped shape his confrontational stage persona. With the MC5, the Stooges became a house band at Detroit's Grande Ballroom, and Elektra signed both bands in 1968. The Stooges (1969), Fun House (1970) and Raw Power (1973) became founding documents of punk. After the band's collapse he made The Idiot and Lust for Life with David Bowie in Berlin. He remains attached to the region, and invested in the fan-owned soccer club Detroit City FC.
Highlights
- Grew up in Ypsilanti; formed the Stooges in Ann Arbor in 1967
- The Stooges were a house band at Detroit's Grande Ballroom
- Raw Power (1973) and Lust for Life (1977) are punk touchstones
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Stooges, 2010
- Michigan Rock and Roll Legends, 2012; Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2020
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1967–1971
Grande Ballroom
Closed · 1928–1972
Russ Gibb's rock ballroom, where the Stooges served as a house band alongside the MC5. Closed as a venue in 1972; the building stands empty.
Related place · 1956
Ford River Rouge Complex
Ford's giant Dearborn factory; he cites a childhood visit at age nine, and its industrial noise, as an early musical inspiration. Visitors can tour it on the Ford Rouge Factory Tour.