# Who is the toughest man in pop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026 "2012-05-15T22:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/22 "2012-05-16T17:10:26Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Not really popular, but [Genki Sudo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genki_Sudo) of **World Order** seems like he could take some people out. > > I know most of it is posing, but **Kid Rock** seems to enjoy a fight or two. > [@astro](#): > > [Tao of Arn — Japanese MMA fighter turned singer/dancer? Haha....](http://arne.reodique.com/post/12543693917/japanese-mma-fighter-turned-singer-dancer-haha) **astro** posted him, but didn’t give any information. **astro** ’s link is a music video (rather cool, IMNSHO). **lost4life** ’s link is the wiki page for the former mixed martial arts fighter. He as 15-4-2 in MMA, but 2-4-0 in kickboxing. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/23 "2012-05-16T17:38:33Z")
Mr. Pibb ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/24 "2012-05-16T17:57:23Z")
Not pop music but Al Barile from SS Decontrol and Dave Dictor of MDC are sposed to be as tough as the come. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/25 "2012-05-16T18:22:21Z")
Chester Burnett aka Howlin Wolf was know for his ability to hold his own, not surprising when you consider he was 6’6 and 300lbs [Howlin - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howlin)’\_Wolf Also Otis Redding, was well known for his ability to rumble, I remember hearing a radio documentary on him and some of the incidents he was involved during the civil rights years - seems he was a good man to have around in a fight. > **[Otis Redding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Redding)** > > Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Nicknamed the "King of Soul", Redding's style of singing gained inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s. > Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, and at age two, moved to Ma... ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/26 "2012-05-16T18:49:18Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I was thinking about Glenn Danzig or possibly Henry Rollins. Lemmy Kilmister was also a good choice. > > And then I thought, well, who has been through just about everything and is still with us? Who’s the baddest badass of 'em all? > > I could only conclude that \*\*Keith Richards \*\*might very well be the toughest man in rock. If you can live through all those drugs and abuse of your own body and og only knows what he’s been through that we _don’t_ know about… Well. I just don’t see how anyone could be harder core than Keith Richards. There’s the infamous clip where he uses his guitar to slam a guy rushing Mick from behind onstage. Keith is known for having an awful temper - from his book, you get the sense that he was small and picked on a bit as a kid, but his freakout temper would back bullies off. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Funny, I immediately thought of **Lemmy** , too, but as I think about it, have no basis for why. I mean, he dresses in black leather, but doesn’t seem like a preening wannabee - you get the impression he would do what it takes to get the job done. The old bluesmen and other folks who worked the hardest clubs over the years are probably a lot tougher than folks who look badass. But **Aaron Neville** , he of the angelic falsetto, does look like he could flatten a man with one punch… From all I have heard and read about him, \*\*Chuck Berry \*\*dealt with some awful, racist, hardass, Chitlin’ Circuit club owner awful treatment over the years which is part of what led him to end up being such an unpleasant person, even to his heroes like Keith Richards. But I get the impression that you would NOT want to have crossed Chuck back in the day. ETA: just had a flash: if you can believe it, and IIRC, the \*\*Gallagher brothers of Oasis \*\*were known for being very thuggy, growing up poor, committing crimes to fund their band, not backing down from a fight (a classic Mancunian trait…) ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/27 "2012-05-16T19:01:41Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > Well, Iggy Pop of course. He’s wiry, but unstoppable. There’s an infamous live bootleg called _Metallic KO_ that records the last Stooges show, during which he taunts an audience of drunken Hell’s Angels and gets things thrown at him. I’ll quote Wikipedia’s quote of Lester Bangs in toto: > > \*"The audience, which consisted largely of bikers, was unusually hostile, and Iggy, as usual, fed on that hostility, soaked it up and gave it back and absorbed it all over again in an eerie, frightening symbiosis. “All right,” he finally said, stopping a song in the middle, “you assholes wanta hear ‘Louie, Louie,’ we’ll give you ‘Louie, Louie.’” So the Stooges played a forty-five-minute version of “Louie Louie,” including new lyrics improvised by the Pop on the spot consisting of “You can suck my ass / You biker faggot sissies,” etc. > > By now the hatred in the room is one huge livid wave, and Iggy singles out one heckler who has been particularly abusive: “Listen, asshole, you heckle me one more time and I’m gonna come down there and kick your ass.” “Fuck you, you little punk,” responds the biker. So Iggy jumps off the stage, runs through the middle of the crowd, and the guy beats the shit out of him, ending the evening’s musical festivities by sending the lead singer back to his motel room and a doctor. I walk into the dressing room, where I encounter the manager of the club offering to punch out anybody in the band who will take him on. The next day the bike gang, who call themselves the Scorpions, will phone WABX-FM and promise to kill Iggy and the Stooges if they play the Michigan Palace on Thursday night. They do (play, that is), and nobody gets killed, but Metallic K.O. is the only rock album I know where you can actually hear hurled beer bottles breaking against guitar strings."\* > > You can indeed hear glasses breaking. What he might lack in fighting technique he makes up for with guts. “I’ll bite your legs off”, that kind of thing. Okay, you win. That’s badder ass than Keith Richards. Good call! ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/28 "2012-05-16T19:10:23Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I was thinking about Glenn Danzig or possibly Henry Rollins. Lemmy Kilmister was also a good choice. There’s a clip out there of Danzig starting a fight with a big fat bald dude who just wallops him and drops him with one punch. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/29 "2012-05-16T19:20:08Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > There’s a clip out there of Danzig starting a fight with a big fat bald dude who just wallops him and drops him with one punch. There’s also a [video clip out there](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iU74f_T0UU) of Maynard James Keenan, frontman for Tool, taking down a rather enthusiastic fan who managed to get on stage. While Keenan was singing Pushit, for cryin’ out loud. (Can you pick worse timing? Sheesh!) Keenan has studied Gracie’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for many years, pinned the guy in a submit, and finished singing the song while sitting on top of him. It was hella badass. However, because he’s not really one to pick a fight, nor does he live a life of over the top excess in terms of violence and drugs, I didn’t even mention him. I’ve also suspected that both Danzig and Rollins are secretly all talk and not much badassery behind the attitudes. So I’m still happy to go with Iggy Pop, followed by Keith Richards at a close second. After the apocalypse, all that will be left is cockroaches, Iggy Pop and Keith Richards. And possibly Chuck Norris. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/30 "2012-05-16T19:27:02Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > There’s a clip out there of Danzig starting a fight with a big fat bald dude who just wallops him and drops him with one punch. This clip, in fact: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zfD7agP1yxw/hqdefault.jpg "Danzig getting knocked out") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfD7agP1yxw) The big guy has quite the dig on him… Boy George has a bit of a reputation. He’s from a tough family and background, and he’s likely got a lot of practice over the years. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/31 "2012-05-16T19:35:40Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Okay, you win. That’s badder ass than Keith Richards. Good call! Really? Iggy is clearly not afraid to step up and engage, so he’s fearless/stupid/courageous, what have you, but he got beat up. Keef took a guitar to a guy. [Here’s the clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv1bM0pp_o4)- the guy stops the full impact in time with his hands, but Keith was not kidding around. The story about Maynard James Keenan, which I had heard and wish I remembered when I first posted, also sounds badasser than Iggy - don’t taunt, don’t flaunt, but if someone crosses a line, drop 'em - then get back to work. (Just like Richards calmly slung his guitar back on and got back to playing Satisfaction…) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/32 "2012-05-16T19:42:34Z")
Johnny Bower played goalie back when real men played hockey: no masks, helmets, visors, little padding and had a #29 hit on the Canadian charts in 1965 with “Honky the Christmas Goose”. > **[Johnny Bower: Honky The Christmas Goose](http://thecurseoffrankmahovlich.blogspot.com/2010/12/johnny-bower-honky-christmas-goose.html)** > > Johnny Bower fancied himself as quite the singer. In his most famous recording, Johnny teamed up with his own son John and some other childr... And then there was Barry Sadler “Ballad of the green berets” ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/33 "2012-05-16T20:14:57Z")
Since we seem to be reaching a bit in our definition of “Pop” I’ll nominate [Trace Adkins](http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1392&bih=748&q=trace+adkins&gbv=2&oq=trace+adkins&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=img.3...984.3312.0.3499.12.10.0.0.0.0.78.125.2.2.0...0.0.T0jEJbrdZs0). who I’d be glad to meet in the dark, but not in a dark alley. 😉 I once heard an interviewer breathlessly asking him about an incident in which a man on the floor sexually assaulted a waitress right in front of him. The calm way in which he said “I split him” spoke volumes. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026/34 "2012-05-17T04:54:28Z")
Everybody probably thought George Harrison was a big wimp with his skinny suits and hair and peace and Krishna and shit, until somebody [broke into his house](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/dec/30/marktran) and he beat them up even though he got stabbed (and lived through it). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-toughest-man-in-pop/622026.md?page=1)