IGGY POP Won't Stage Dive Anymore: 'I Hit My Limit'

January 4, 2023

Iggy Pop has once again explained his decision to retire from stage diving.

The legendary 75-year-old rocker, who popularized the move during his time as frontman of THE STOOGES, told Billboard about his stage-diving antics: "I'm not doing that right now. I hit my limit. I did about 40 shows last year and I crossed over [into the audience] a few times, but not with a full dive. A couple of times I sorta fell in and a couple of times I walked around, but if I don't have to, I prefer to stay on the stage. It's too much wear and tear at this point. I would get hurt. So I prefer to stay on the stage, but now at some of the shows people do it themselves; they leap up, touch toe, do a grab and dive off. That's cool with me."

Pop previously spoke about his decision to swear off stage diving last year in an interview with NME. At the time, he said: "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.

"I won't do the dives again," he said. "I've managed to survive it mostly and I'm too rickety for that now."

Iggy had floated around the possibility of his retirement from stage diving back in 2010 after he was injured at a New York City concert. Pop had jumped into the crowd halfway through a performance of "I Want To Be Your Dog", but nobody in the audience caught him, leaving the singer with severe bruises.

"When I landed, it hurt and I made a mental note that Carnegie Hall would be a good place for my last stage dive," he told Jam! Showbiz at the time. "The audience were just like, 'What are you doing?'"

Pop's most recent stage dive reportedly came as recently as last June during a show in The Netherlands.

Iggy's new album, "Every Loser", will arrive on January 6. Pop's 19th solo LP will be his first to be released via the recently announced partnership between Atlantic Records and Gold Tooth Records, the new label founded by the album's Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum executive producer Andrew Watt.

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