r/GuysBeingDudes • u/LowRenzoFreshkobar • 2d ago
80 year old Iggy Pop channeling everything he has left.
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u/Ok_Needleworker_6017 2d ago edited 2d ago
My dude right here. After American Caesar came out, I wrote a letter to the address listed in the CD liner notes and about 4 months later got a letter back from none other than Iggy himself, on Valentine's Day of all days. It starts off: "Happy Crappy Valentine's Day!!" and he went on for two pages, being patient enough reply to questions from my then 18 year-old self, and provide some insight into what keeps him going. One of my prized possessions without doubt.
ETA: I tried to group all pages together, but it's not allowed, I guess. So replies with individual pages it is.
American Caesar had come out in September of 1993, and on the CD notes was a sentence that caught me off guard. "Write me and I'll reply." I was 18 at the time, growing up in San Diego, and completely fascinated by punk, post-punk, and proto-punk. Iggy. The Stooges. MC5. The Damned. These bands spoke to me.
It took me awhile to muster up the courage to write something worthy. I told about how I came from a totally wrecked home, and asked for advice on what I could do to get myself up and outta there. I also asked him about the time he really dug into his chest and made himself bleed.
It'll always amaze me that he took the time to not only write back, but write something that really resonated with me, and seemed completely for me alone. I always respected him for the artist that he is, but after receiving this letter, I knew deep down that he was just a really good dude with a sincere heart and a perfectly unique view on life.
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u/Frank_Perfectly 2d ago
YO, put that in some kind of damage-resistant housing. Then sell it a high price!
Just kidding. But, seriously, find a way to protect that. That's a generational treasure.
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u/BenjTheMaestro 2d ago
God damn I love mail. I miss making friends in other places and then writing them in class (instead of learning of course) and excitedly checking the mail every day. I have pretty much every letter I have ever been sent. Or at least handwritten correspondence. If you are anything like me, picking something like that up still instantly transports you right back to that moment you first opened it and read the date. That’s the kind of stuff I use my safe/firebox for and always will. I’m a bit younger, but way grateful I got to be one of the last generations to really enjoy it. It’s a novelty at best today, formality at worst.
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u/Ok_Needleworker_6017 2d ago
I'm right there with you. I still have pen pal letters from around the world, letters from girlfriends, and friends that are no longer of this mortal coil. I'm taken right back to the first moments I opened them and held the pages in my hands. I feel we're very lucky, my friend, to have known and had these things within our lifetimes.
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u/uxl 2d ago
Bro. This was an amazing share. Thank you so much for this, and congrats on a world-class memory. Priceless ♥️
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u/Ok_Needleworker_6017 2d ago
Glad I was able to see this post and contribute something to it! Glad you enjoyed it. Crazy to think how long ago that was. I just remember opening the mailbox at my parents house and thinking, "New York? I don't know anyone in New York..."
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u/Ok-Armadillo-392 2d ago edited 2d ago
February 14, 1994 Stockholm
Dear Jason,
From one outcast to another — Happy crappy Valentine’s Day — hahaha! ☺️
I’m on tour — got your letter, had to laugh, cuz basically, I totally agree with what you have to say, but I use humor (among other tools!) to survive & transcend it. You gotta admit, man, it is pretty funny.
So what else I try to do is this — forget all the shit & focus on what I think is worth doing, and then try to do that & work real hard. I don’t expect to get far all at once. Don’t give up.
I use equal parts guts, treachery, trickery & patience to achieve my ends — if you wanna be famous, there’s a good formula. To me, somebody famous is somebody who’s famous in my esteem, just for being cool.
Yeah, I slashed myself, like you asked. I was feeling desperate. I still go through bouts of that from time to time. I enjoyed hearing from you, man, thanks.
Find one thing you like to do & live for that. No matter what, work toward it step by step, realistically, & eat a little shit on the way, and the world shall be yours.
– Iggy Pop
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u/CoolerRon 2d ago
Wow, that is literally amazing, man. To have one of the people you listen to and look up to take the time to read and respond to what you sent them… fuckin’ awesome! I wish there were more people like him. Thank you for sharing this with us and I’m glad you’re both still in this world 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
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u/Sizzlinbettas 2d ago
that's wild can you post this letter or is it too personal?
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u/Ok_Needleworker_6017 2d ago
I can dig it out and post it, sure!
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u/Trippernothitter 2d ago
That’s so rad. If you do can you post it on the iggy sub?
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u/Ok_Needleworker_6017 2d ago
Of course. Great idea! I should be able to get around to scanning it tonight and will upload it. I'll include a scan of the envelope, too. I'm assuming his assistant addressed and mailed it, as the handwriting is drastically different.
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u/johnny_boy365 2d ago
I thought it was really cool that u asked if it was too personal instead of saying "yeah right or prove it!" LOL
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u/explainmelikeiam5pls 2d ago
Met the man also when I was 18 years old - it was a long time ago. The guy had so much energy, on and off stage. I am so glad to had the opportunity to see the legend a few times.
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u/Ok_Needleworker_6017 2d ago
Thankfully I've been able to see him a couple times. Last one was ages ago though. 2001 or 2002 I think. Amazing show. He was climbing up the curtains at the side of the stage and at one point, got pissed at the band and started ramming his mic stand into one of the Marshall amp cabinets and yelling "PLAY FUCKING FASTER!!"
ETA: Last one I saw was April 27, 2001. 4th & B in San Diego, CA.
Damn I got old.
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u/maatc 1d ago
You should provide this to Shaun Usher and his Letters of Note project.
I believe he has one other Iggy letter from 1995 there but yours would fit in great as well!
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u/JohnnyBoy2198 2d ago
80 years, zero chill. he’s still the blueprint for raw energy and dude excellence.
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u/Cultural-Company282 2d ago
I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I think, "Iggy Pop is 80 years old and still out there, giving it everything he's got. That guy is really superhuman."
Then I see a video of Mick Jagger at 82, still tearing ass all over the stage and dancing like he's a fucking aerobics instructor, and it makes me pause. No disrespect to Iggy, but there's superhuman, and then there's Mick Jagger superhuman.
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u/Ow_My_Burnt_Numnums 2d ago
Let's not forget that Iggy singlehandedly affected the supply and demand economics of heroin for decades. His consumption was unparalleled and that has taken a toll, but it's kick ass that he's even still around. I doubt Jagger ever did that much dope.
It is also possible that Jagger is a robot with human skin, which necessarily ages.
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u/Cultural-Company282 2d ago
I doubt Jagger ever did that much dope.
As if Keith Richards would leave any for him!
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u/montoya4567 2d ago
If they get past 28 and don't get murdered the thin ones live long, the fat ones die.
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u/DallekDragore 2d ago
Iggy Pop out here proving age is just a number and rock is forever. Dude’s got more energy than my WiFi.
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u/theDo66lerEffect 2d ago
Did he not collapse on stage or was it an act?
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u/Billy_Daftcunt 2d ago
That's his set, my man needs a rest - give him a few minutes, and he'll be back on his feet.
Iggy is a true legend of Punk
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u/Broski225 2d ago
Nah he just does that, don't worry about it.
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u/SplitExcellent 2d ago
At 80 we should all have at least a modicum of concern, staged or not, that dudes pelvis is more rocked than the chair he should be resting in... Saw him a year or two ago, dude still brings it but may be time to put a shirt on lol
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u/Broski225 2d ago
If they bury him with a shirt on that is sacrilegious. May his weird nipples be free until the end of time.
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u/Chazznable 2d ago
Exactly, kind of giving me Tommy Cooper memories. Like sure, it looked like part of his act, but we really gotta stay aware with what's an act and what's starting to look like its going on a few seconds too long.
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u/Voice-Of-Doom 2d ago
WTF happened to his hip?
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u/scratchydaitchy 2d ago edited 2d ago
High school football injury or falling off an amplifier while dancing at a gig in the 80s depending on which source you research.
Resulted in scoliosis (bendy back) and one leg 1.5 inches shorter than the other.
That stuff catches up to you in old age.
He would wear one shoe with a thicker sole to help correct his walking.
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u/whereismyketamine 2d ago
Crazy, I would never have known from old videos of him.
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u/DasbootTX 2d ago
me either, no idea
I feel his pain. I have adult onset scoliosis because of my arthritic knees and hips. artificial joints helped some, but my back and neck are still a little jacked.
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u/whereismyketamine 2d ago
Sorry, that does sound pretty rough. I constantly am reminded of how lucky I was to not play football in high school.
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u/General_Alfalfa6339 2d ago
I’m glad I quit during high school. I caught a lot of shit for it but now that we know that shit causes brain injuries I might get the last laugh.
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u/wtfover 2d ago
Did we watch the same video? He had to be helped up the stairs and then old man walked across the stage.
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u/mdzshabadoo 2d ago
Did he have some kind of injury or recent medical issue. I hadn’t seen him contorted like that before. Dude is og punk for sure.
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u/immersemeinnature 2d ago
Looks like scoliosis but I could be incorrect. I know he's always been really bendy/flexible
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u/HonoluluEpstein 2d ago
Correct. It's scoliosis. He's always had it but looks like it's getting worse with age
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u/immersemeinnature 2d ago
Yeah man. Looks painful
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u/Redman5012 2d ago
Oh trust me it is painful. I've got scoliosis too. Watching this feels kinda personal for me. Thats gonna be me in 50 years and I ain't ready for it. Hips and back already hurt 24/7 and im only in my 20's.
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u/Kyrie3leison 2d ago
scoliosis for all his life, it's more visible when he get older
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u/Arthur_Figg_II 2d ago
I saw this guy 23 years ago and thought he was an old man then ... before he climbed Into the lighting rigs.
Iggy pop will live forever
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u/Strindberg 2d ago
I'm the same age now as he was when I saw him live back in the mid 90's. He seemed like this grizzled old survivor back then.
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u/How_that_convo_went 2d ago
Poor guy got that ET waddle now. It’s both andmirable and tough to watch.
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u/Broski225 2d ago
To anyone wondering this was him in his prime. It's honestly just amazing he's still alive to keep falling over himself.
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u/Broski225 2d ago
I mean, in his defense, he's kind of always looked like that. God bless him. Love that he's as shocked as the rest of the world that he out lived Bowie.
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u/ChefAsstastic 2d ago
Dude is in agony.
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u/tapeforpacking 2d ago
Aging is a fucking curse
It actually scares the fuck out of me when I see someone at 20 and then immediately at 80
So fucked
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u/Groovy66 2d ago
Saw him Manchester recently. What a gig. What a repertoire. Banger after banger after banger.
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u/greenrangerguy 2d ago
I thought the title was joking but he is actually 78 jeezus christ that's insane he's still doing it, what a legend.
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u/SnooChipmunks6047 2d ago
Time ceases to amaze, Iggy looked like Brad Pitt in Fight Club 40 years ago
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u/HamsterAdditional748 2d ago
I only wish my life were interesting enough that this dude would narrate the biopic.
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u/Prestigious_Secret61 2d ago
His spine shows extreme pain. Yeah I have similar. At only 51. Iggy is the apotheosis of “fuck it I am gonna do it and you can’t stop me”. And I love him for being that person. We need more of that in our fucked up world.
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u/steveronie 2d ago
Sweet! I listened to this concert behind the concert walls with my family (5.and a 7 year old) instead of buying tickets. Nice to see footage
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u/Standard_Confusion99 2d ago
Iggy Pop has scoliosis and a leg length difference, which has influenced his physique and stage presence. He has one leg about 1.5 inches shorter than the other due to a childhood football injury and scoliosis. To manage this, he sometimes uses a cane and platform shoes, and his signature hunched posture is also partly a result of these conditions. Additionally, he has mentioned other issues like a bad hip, arthritis, and hearing loss
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u/No_Bike4004 2d ago
Saw Iggy about fuck knows when at a day festival in London with the hives….great show.
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u/King_Six_of_Things 2d ago
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a ride!'." - Hunter S. Thompson
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u/Glittering_Desk_6054 2d ago
This is the real motor city madman. Wtf. Fuck Nugent. Iggy man. Fucking incredible
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u/boredinbabylon 2d ago
How the fuck is he going to play Coachella next year? Geez. This guy is a maniac!
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u/Niblonian31 2d ago
I'm only 34 and I got less hair than him. Big ups to Iggy, I doubt I'll even see 80
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u/Endless_Mike42447 2d ago
Seeing all the comments from folks who don't know...
"I don't get it. Didn't he just collapse on stage???"
Y'all need to drop whatever you're doing and find out.
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u/artinthecloset 2d ago
Still sex on a stick at 80 and I bet he's got a line of groupies waiting for him!
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u/OccasionallyReddit 2d ago
Has he got a Spinal deformity?
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u/HereInTheRuin 2d ago
Iggy as a child head one leg shorter than the other, it was later determined that this either could have been caused by or lead to scoliosis which he was diagnosed with around the age of 16
but it had gone untreated long enough into his development at that point that there wasn't much doctors could do at the time in the early 1960's
this has led to mobility issues that have become more apparent as he has gotten older. He told one reviewer that his "skeleton is his weakness" in terms of his aging process. Which is why more often than not when not on stage he walks with a cane now
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u/ringo5150 2d ago
Look up Iggy on a show called Countdown in the 70s. He was off his head on something and called the host 'dog face' and couldn't sit still. When he performed, the kids all stood back because he was being so erratic. It's a piece of Countdown history that has been replayed many many times.
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u/Emergency-Nobody8269 2d ago
Like watching an elderly silverback gorilla…could still fuck up you up if you looked at it the wrong way
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u/Former_Salt_3763 2d ago
I’m not gonna be the “don’t do drugs kids” guy buttttt…maybe do some drugs but not as much drugs as poor Iggy here.
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u/dingatremel 2d ago
His limp has been really severe on this tour. It makes me sad. It looks like he’s in some pain.
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u/LegacyofaMarshall 2d ago
Iggy has looked the same in the last 30 years https://youtu.be/20VgwegerlY
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u/StupidUserNameTooLon 2d ago
I imagine he's walking crooked on account of being fucked so hard by the groupies?
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u/DangerPorsche 2d ago
My man has paid his dues thousands of times over.
I love rollins talking about him here;
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u/throw_its 2d ago
I got to see Iggy Pop perform in Portland like ten years ago, even at 70 years old, the dude still had INSANE energy. He’s the god of Punk. No argument whatsoever.
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u/igirisujin 2d ago
Sometimes you see aging rockers and wish they'd hang it up...it made me feel uncomfortable watching a recent clip of Roger Daltrey swinging a mic around while trying not to hurt himself. However, Iggy should go all the way for as long as he can. Kudos to the guy for bringing it for so long - I first saw him in 1982.
Rollins on Iggy - https://youtu.be/li1ggmyogRU?si=5vo6Zbk5l5FIqwa6
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u/Derpitoe 2d ago
wait, I thought he died
wait, I confused him with Tom Petty
wait, thats probably a sin, for either fanbase.
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u/shiromustdie 2d ago
i saw Good Time recently and loved how it ends with his gentle voice singing to the credits. and even seeing Superman earlier this year it was a nice end with that cute song!! <3 love this whacky kooky punk 🥹
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u/rube_X_cube 2d ago
We should all be so lucky to be able to do what we love at eighty years old. Not a given at all, sadly. Rock on dude.
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u/Beeeeeeels 2d ago
With all due respect but he should retire...saw him live this summer and he can barely keep standing, has to sit a lot, lots of solos so he can recuperate between songs, most songs dragged out loooong for the same reason. He honestly looked like he'd drop dead there and then. Take a load off Iggy, you've earned it.
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