Iggy Pop has cast doubt on the future of The Stooges following the death of Scott Asheton aged 64 earlier this week.
Speaking to Rolling Stone about Asheton, Pop says that he “Can’t see” the band playing in the future. I don’t want to say that I’m done with the band,” he says. “I would just say that I feel like the group has always included the Asheton brothers. When Ron passed away, Scott represented him. Nearly everything we play, Ron played on originally. I don’t feel right now like there’s any reason for me to go jumping out onstage in tight Levi’s. What am I going to scream about?”
Continuing, Pop said that he has no plans to tour in any capacity for at least two years: “I just can’t see the band playing in the near future. It would just be wrong. But if something comes up, you should be open to it. It depends on the feeling of the family and the surviving members. James Williamson was in the group and I’ve been there since it started. It would depend on the realities and the musical truth.”
Asheton’s bandmate and brother, guitarist Ron Asheton, passed away in 2009. The Asheton brothers founded The Stooges in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967 with bassist Dave Alexander and Iggy Pop.