Proto punk icon Iggy Pop recently performed chamber version of the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” alongside Laurie Anderson, Rubin Kodheli and Tony Shanahan at the Tibet House Benefit show in New York City. The performer began his performance by reading Lou Reed’s poem “We Are the People,” before going into the performance shirtless, as the orchestra performed the main instrumental.
“I Wanna Be Your Dog” was originally featured on The Stooges’ self titled album back in 1969, and has been covered numerous times by various artists from Joan Jett and The Blackhearts to R.E.M. This latest performance kept up Iggy Pop’s iconic punk energy, as he passionately sings and maneuvers around the stage.
The Tibet House Benefit hosted other performers such as Patti Smith, soul singer Bettye LaVette, country singer-songwriter Margo Price, The National frontman Matt Berninger, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson, musician and activist Jesse Paris Smith and Tibetan artist and cultural ambassador Tenzin Choegyal. Proceeds from the event support Tibet House US, a non-profit educational institution and cultural embassy founded in 1987 by the Dalai Lama.
Iggy Pop, along with Public Enemy, Chicago, John Prine, Roberta Flack, Isaac Hayes, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, recently received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His most recent album Free debuted last year.
“The greatest thing about Iggy Pop is his lack of genre: no one can really predict where his mind will take him,” mxdwn reviewer Arnim Whisler explained. “Overall, Free can be described as pretty mellow in terms of mood, but that’s about the only box it can be classified into, as every song is different.”
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