The New York Times Magazine. Over the past few years, the
veteran punk rocker has lost a number of close musician
acquaintances to illness and old age—including longtime friend
and collaborator David Bowie last year. “Oh, gosh, I could click
off the names, but all sorts of people I’ve had a drink with, and
then all the people in my group, with the exception of one, are
all gone,” says Pop, 69. “So, obviously, I begin thinking about
myself. Well, OK, I’m alive. Great! So what’s good about that?
That’s Question 1. Then: What is a reasonable amount of time
that I can look forward to?” As a consequence of this introspection,
Pop has begun to rein in his fast-living ways, which once
included copious amounts of alcohol, psychedelics, heroin, and
other drugs. “You want to be sensible. For instance, I had a
sports car, and a few years ago I realized it’s not cool for a guy
over 65 with 20/40 vision to be getting ticked off when somebody’s
driving less than 100 miles an hour in front of it. And so
I traded it in for a dad car. A big one, though,” he adds. “I don’t
want to become totally sensible.”