Iggy Pop: The Stooges will tour in 2010

LONDON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. rock icon Iggy Pop says he and his band The Stooges have been rehearsing for a 2010 concert tour.

The group's future had been unclear after guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead of an apparent heart attack last January. The Stooges formed in the late 1960s and were regarded as highly influential during the punk music movement. They broke up in the mid-1970s, reuniting in 2003.

"The band have been rehearsing more without me than with me because I've been doing other things this year. But we have been rehearsing all together more recently," Pop told the BBC. "We're going to be doing a one-off show in Brazil in a few weeks, but the real touring starts next year."

The band's front man also confirmed the group's original guitarist James Williamson is returning after nearly 30 years.

"We're all very sorry about Ron," the BBC quoted Pop as saying. "His spirit within the group remains with the rest of us and he is still a presence within the group without being on the physical plain."