On April 21st, 1947, Iggy Pop was born in Muskegon, Michigan. To celebrate his 74th birthday, here are 15 things you might not know about the rocker:

1. Iggy’s real name is James Newell Osterberg, Jr.

2. Iggy actually grew up in a trailer park in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

3. The singer went to junior high in Ann Arbor, Michigan, alongside very wealthy kids, including the son of the president of the Ford Motor Company.

4. Iggy’s first instrument was the drums. His parents were so supportive, they gave him the trailer’s master bedroom since it was the only room that could fit the instrument.

5. In high school, Iggy was in a band called The Iguanas, which led to the birth of his nickname.

6. Iggy got the “Pop” part of his stage name from his resemblance to his friend Jimmy Pop. Jimmy lost all his hair, including his eyebrows, which motivated Iggy to shave his eyebrows. Since they were the only two people without eyebrows, Iggy was called Iggy Pop, because it looked like he was related to Jimmy.

7. Iggy was the first performer to do a stage dive. It happened at a concert in Detroit.

8. Among Iggy’s other early stage gimmicks were rolling around in broken glass, exposing himself to the crowd and vomiting on stage.

9. Pop was inspired to become a professional musician after he saw The Doors live. Singer Jim Morrison angered the crowd and made Iggy feel that if Morrison could be a rock star, he could do it too.

10. There are unconfirmed stories that before naming his band The Stooges, Iggy called Moe Howard of The Three Stooges to ask for his blessing. Moe reportedly said, “I don’t care what they call themselves, as long as they’re not the Three Stooges” and hung up.

11. Iggy met David Bowie at Max’s Kansas City in New York. Bowie would go on to producer the Stooges’ iconic album, Raw Power.

12. In 1976, Iggy and Bowie were arrested together for marijuana possession in Rochester, New York but the charges were later dropped.

13. Iggy has appeared in 16 movies includingThe Color of Money, Tank Girl, The Rugrats Movie and Snow Day.

14. Among Iggy’s five television roles was a character on an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

15. In 2010, there were plans to do a biopic about Iggy calledThe Passenger. Elijah Wood was set to play the singer but the project got shelved.

Happy birthday, Iggy Pop!

Photo: Getty

Mel Taylor

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