Isle of Wight Festival to celebrate 40 years of Punk

Punk turns 40 next year, and in celebration of four decades of this exciting and at times controversial music scene The Isle of Wight Festival  has added Iggy Pop, Adam Ant, The Damned, Buzzcocks and The Godfathers to the line up for 2016. These  new acts will  join Queen + Adam Lambert, Stereophonics and Faithless to perform over the weekend in Seaclose Park, Newport.

1976 is widely seen as the year that punk was born. The Sex Pistols signed to EMI Records, and started to generate significant press coverage – not least for their infamous interview in December of that year with Bill Grundy whilst The Ramones released their debut album in 1976.  That year also saw the formation of not only The Damned and The Buzzcocks, but also other punk legends such as The Clash, The Slits and X-Ray Spex.

Iggy Pop, real name James Jewel Osterburg, will appear on the Main Stage after successfully touring the globe with The Stooges for the last decade. His iconic solo albums such as ‘Lust For Life’, ‘The Idiot’and ‘New Values’have produced anthemic sounds such as ‘The Passenger’whilst cementing his place in punk rock history.

Adam Ant, real name Stuart Goddard, will perform the Adam and the Ants album ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’, the No. 1 best selling album of 1980, which was also awarded ‘Best British Album’at the 1982 BRIT Awards. The singles, ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’ and ‘Antmusic’ both hit number 2 in the UK chart and ‘Dog Eat Dog’ reached number 4. Considered to be the record that broke the band into the mainstream, ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’forged a new look for Adam, creating one of the most iconic pop images of all time, which he will bring to life once again at The Isle of Wight Festival. In 1981 he had two number one singles ‘Stand and Deliver’ and ‘Prince Charming’.

Gothic rockers The Damned, celebrating their own 40th anniversary as punk rock pioneers, will entertain fans with their showmanship and humour, performing tracks from their extensive back catalogue including ‘Eloise’which reached Number 3 in the UK Charts in 1986.

Buzzcocks will also celebrate 40 years as a band, bringing their razor sharp riffs to the Isle of Wight. This band is heralded as one of the most important influences on the Manchester music scene, as well as the independent record label movement. Founding members Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle will perform timeless tracks such as ‘What Do I Get’and ‘Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’with a rhythm section consisting of Chris Remmington and Danny Farrant.

Legendary rock and roll band The Godfathers consisting of brothers Peter and Chris Coyne earned a reputation for their electrifying brand of primal rock and roll and live shows around the World. In 2013 the band returned with the much-anticipated release of their brand new album ‘Jukebox Fury’after reforming in 2008 for the re-issue of their debut album ‘Hit by Hit’.

More acts will be announced at a later date –watch this space!