The naked truth: New York’s ‘Naked Cowboy’ exposes his rise to fame

Wearing tighty whiteys with the words “Naked Cowboy” emblazoned on the backside, Robert Burck has become a Times Square staple for strutting and strumming half-naked through the streets.

“I want to be the most famous man on the face of the earth,” Burck said during a phone interview with The Daily Free Press.

Burck brought his Naked Cowboy act to Boston on Saturday to promote his partnership with Blue Island Shellfish Farms at the Legal Harborside.

Burck is the author of his autobiography “Determination: The Legend of the Naked Cowboy,” the producer of three country albums, and an ordained minister in Times Square who marries couples.

He said, that he attributes his rise to fame to his ability to be “extremely energetic with unlimited capabilities.”

Even as a child, he said that he was always legendary for what he could do. Burck said that when he was younger, everyone always told him what he absolutely could not do— they constantly restricted and restrained his natural inclination to be a “crazy guy.”

All of this constrained energy, Burck said, sat inside him until he was in his late teens and he read the book “Unlimited Power,” by self-help guru Tony Robbins.

“The book told me I could be successful,” he said. “I just broke down my life and that got me motivated in the direction of ‘I have to become somebody, I have to be somebody.’”

By 1997, Burck was in his twenties and was living in Venice Beach, Calif. At the time, he was a model, actor, country singer and bodybuilder. He said he even did a few photo shoots for “Playgirl” magazine.

He used to play his guitar on the beach there, in his clothes, and always noticed how little attention beach-goers would pay him. He said he would even sometimes be ignored for entire days at a time.

When he complained about the lack of attention to one of the photographers at “Playgirl,” the photographer suggested he play in his underwear because he was both a model and a bodybuilder— and the Naked Cowboy was born
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After realizing what a profitable idea this was, Burck went back to his hometown, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attempted to try his new idea there. There he was arrested, but he said it did not deter him in the slightest.

Once he was released, Burck said he decided to travel the country and try his luck at stardom.

Forty-nine arrests later, he had already been around the entire continental United States twice, and wound up in New York City. Burck said he initially had no intention of staying in the city, but the more time he spent there, the more fame he realized he was gathering.

Eleven years later, Burck is still working as the Naked Cowboy in Times Square.

Burck said that at this point, he is well on his way to achieving all of the goals he set for himself. He feels that he has specifically reached his goals financially.

He is able to send money to his family back in Ohio and support the needs of his mother who has multiple sclerosis.

“I do everything I can to contribute to her situation,” Burck said. “I think my example is important to all these people, but I think that they would rather just get money.”

Burck said he reads self-help books every day, and listens to them in his car. By doing this, he said, it is helping him achieve his goal of being the “most famous man on the face of the earth,” and the “most effective human being [he] can be.”

“When you’re a psycho like me,” he said, “in terms of the level of dedication, everyone else seems like a slacker.”