Iggy Pop and Michael Rother Play Neu!'s "Hero" on Stage
by John Diliberto 6/23/2022
Well this is wild! a side of the stage video of guitarist Michael Rother, famed for his solo work and the bands Neu! and Harmonia, playing onstage with Iggy Pop, the Godfather of Punk Rock. It’s not so unusual though if you know the history which goes back to the late-1970s. It was the time when David Bowie and Brian Eno were in Berlin recording the Berlin trilogy of Low, Heroes, and Lodger. Bowie was also producing the second comeback of Iggy with the albums The Idiot and Lust for Life. At the same time, Eno was also visiting with the members of Harmonia, Michael Rother, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius, which resulted in three albums. Michael Rother was supposedly the first choice of guitarist for David Bowie on the Berlin Trilogy which featured great work instead from Robert Fripp. So it’s to be expected that Iggy would be around while all this was happening. He’s seen in the 2009 documentary, Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany, extolling the virtues of Neu! The two artists from different points on the rock spectrum had a reunion when Iggy was playing a gig in Hamburg this past Monday, June 20. Iggy and his band were joined by Rother onstage to play “Hero”, originally from the Neu! 1975 album.