Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker has admitted “life became dark” after his infamous Michael Jackson BRITs stunt.
The singer had a well publicised run-in with the King Of Pop at the 1996 BRIT Awards, when he appeared on stage uninvited during Jackson’s performance of ‘Earth Song’ to protest how Jackson saw himself “as some kind of Christ-like figure with the power of healing”.
Being accused of dropping his trousers and mooning those in attendance – when actually just making a wafting motion from his rear – Cocker was subsequently arrested and held by police on suspicion of assault, before later being released without charge.
In a new interview with Mojo, Cocker looked back on the incident, saying: “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.
“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.”
The ‘Common People’ singer said the experience sent him into a space that took him a “long time to get out of, over 10 years for sure. But I did it, so I can’t complain.”
The comments echo those made in a 2020 interview with the New York Times, where Cocker he said that the incident “changed my life forever, because of the fallout,” and went on to reveal how David Bowie wound up being an unlikely lifeline.
“In the UK, suddenly, I was crazily recognised and I couldn’t go out anymore,” he revealed. “It tipped me into a level of celebrity I couldn’t ever have known existed, and wasn’t equipped for. It had a massive, generally detrimental effect on my mental health.”
Cocker added that he was “saved by David Bowie,” explaining: “There was an accusation that I’d knocked some kids off the stage. I’d been arrested. The only footage that’d been released was like a CCTV camera, and you couldn’t see what was happening.
“That year, David Bowie was getting a lifetime achievement award, and he had his own camera crew there. After two or three days, they released their footage, and then the charges were dropped straight away. Among many other things I’m grateful to David Bowie for, that was amazing.”
Meanwhile, Cocker and co. are set to perform two special intimate gigs in London next month, held for both BBC 6 Music and Radio 2. Both shows are set to be recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in London’s Broadcasting House – see how you can score free tickets here.
It comes in celebration of the iconic Sheffield band announcing their new album ‘More’, due June 6 via Rough Trade Records, and will see them play both new material and fan favourites.
Last week (April 10), Cocker said in a separate interview with BBC 6 Music‘s Lauren Laverne that “Glastonbury has a very important place in our heart” but there are “no plans” to play this year.
Cocker also told Laverne that recording ‘More’ without Steve Mackey, who died in 2023, was “weird at first”, but that there were “two songs on the record which date from when Steve was around”, which made him feel part of the project.
“It was not the nicest thing,” the singer continued. “But people who you’re close to, you never forget them, and you can do things to remember them by.”