There's a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk — every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his late-'60s/early-'70s the Stooges. Born on April 21, 1947, in Muskegon, MI, James Newell Osterberg was raised by his parents (his father was an English teacher) in a trailer park close to Ann Arbor, in nearby Ypsilanti. Intrigued by rock & roll (as well as such non-musical, monotonous, and mechanical sounds as his father's electric razor and the local automobile assembly plants in Detroit), Osterberg began playing drums and formed his first band, the Iguanas, in the early '60s. Via the Rolling Stones, Osterberg discovered the blues, forming a similarly styled outfit, called the Prime Movers, upon graduating from high school in 1965. When a brief stint at the University of Michigan didn't work out, Osterberg moved to Chicago, playing drums alongside bluesmen.

But his true love was still ...

Full Iggy Pop biography

Rock, Hard Rock, Punk Rock, Modern Rock, Proto-punk