Iggy Pop is considered one of the most important innovators of punk rock and related styles. He is sometimes referred to by the nicknames "the Godfather of Punk" and "the Rock Iguana", and is widely acknowledged as one of the most dynamic stage performers of rock.
Pop was the lead singer of The Stooges, a late 1960s/early 1970s garage rock band who were highly influential in the development of punk rock and post-punk. The Stooges became infamous for their live performances in which Pop leapt off the stage (thus inventing the "stage dive"), smeared raw meat and on one occasion peanut butter over his chest and cut himself with broken bottles. Many subsequent performers have imitated Pop’s antics.