Iggy Pop explained why he resisted being given a Grammy award before finally relenting in 2020.

He received a Lifetime Achievement statue that year, marking only the second time he was been nominated. He responded with a sarcastic, “[In] 50 years, what have they ever done for me?” in an interview ahead of the ceremony, although he added he was “quite surprised” when he heard Grammy CEO Deb Dugan’s pitch to him.

“Things changed, and society met me halfway,” Pop told Classic Rock in a recent interview. “The Grammys kept wanting to talk to me on the phone, and I kept telling my manager, ‘I don’t want to talk to them. I hate those people. They want me to be an exhibit in their museum or something.’”

He added that "then when I finally spoke to the lady from the Grammys a couple of months later, she said, ‘We’re giving you the Lifetime Achievement. Without you, there's no Lil Nas X and there’s no Billie Eilish.’ According to her, ‘You’re a direct link to the artists that are at the top of our awards list this year.’ ... So that's what one person had to say, and I’ll take that for what it’s worth."

Pop just released a new album, Every Loser, a collaboration with producer Andrew Watt that features Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and other guests. The singer recently told NME that the album title came from a lyric in his song “Comments,” suggested by Watt. “When I read [online] comments, especially the brutal ones, it’ll be some guy with a macho name like @superdudemuscledestroyer,” Pop said. “He’ll write something like, ‘Iggy you little wimp, this sucks,’ I do think about the pleasure this person gets out of it. Andrew spotted the line ‘Every loser needs a bit of joy’ and suggested it as the title. I didn’t think I could carry that ball, but Every Loser [is] nice because it’s inclusive.”

Listen to Iggy Pop's 'Comments'

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