Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker admits “life became dark” following Michael Jackson incident at Brits
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Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker has reflected on crashing the stage during Michael Jackson’s performance at the Brit Awards in 1996 and revealed the consequences of the high-profile stunt.
Jackson’s performance was the spectacle of the evening and brought out all of the stops for an extravagant rendition of ‘Earth Song’. However, Cocker was the one who stole the headlines when he made his way onto the stage, dropped his trousers and mooned those in attendance.
While Pulp had headlined Glastonbury in 1995 and were a hugely successful band, Cocker’s level of fame was still at a manageable level before the Brits. Suddenly, he achieved household name status and wasn’t purely known for his musical skills, which had a long-term impact on his mental health.
In a new interview with Mojo, Cocker reflected: “At first it looked bad: they accused me of cobbing kids off stage and stuff, and a bare bottom as well, which wasn’t true. After that, everybody knew who I was. I’d always wanted to be famous, but you can’t decide on the level of fame that you’re going to get, and that sent me into an overload of it.”
He continued: “It wasn’t for music, it was for one quite out-of-character thing I’d done. That’s when it became really difficult to handle because I just couldn’t go out anymore. So, yeah, life became dark.”
Although Cocker found the level of interest in him extremely difficult to handle, he said it was “nice of them” for the Daily Mirror to organise a Justice For Jarvis campaign in defence of him following the backlash.
Additionally, the negativity far outweighed the positivity, with Cocker adding, “But it sent me into a space that took me a long time to get out of, over 10 years for sure. But I did it, so I can’t complain.”
Pulp eventually disbanded following the release of We Love Life in 2001, with Cocker moving his attention to his solo career and other artistic endeavours. This summer, they release More, their first album in 24 years and will also embark on a UK arena tour.
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