A star bearing Steve Gibbon’s name

Do you know how many stars there are in the sky? No, we don’t know either. Easier to count is the number of stars on the Walk of Stars, which (modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) pays tribute to celebrities from Birmingham and the surrounding Midlands on Birmingham’s Wall Street.

There are illustrious names from the field of rock music such as Ozzy Osbourne and Tommi Iommi of Black Sababath, Slade singer Noddy Holder, Jeff Lynne, ex-ELO and Travelling Willburies, Spencer Davis and singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading.

Now another star is added for a rock musician. Steve Gibbons, as still active veteran of the Birmingham rock (´n`roll) scene with an international reputation, has (finally) also been honoured in this way.

Steve Gibbons‘ path to this honour was long, but it proves that the musician still has a large following in „Brum“ (as the people of Birmingham affectionately call their city) and in the Midlands.

The first trace of Steve Gibbons being nominated for a star can be found in 2011, when Jimmy the Hat, a musician from Moseley, wrote a letter to the editor of the online platform Business Live, saying, among other things:

He’s had some very very good albums out over the years and is loved throughout mainland Europe and indeed America. So then!

What followed was a signature campaign for which, among other things, the following text was used:

Steve Gibbons is a rock legend!

More so, he is a world class artist who’s career spans 60 yrs. His achievements are too numerous to list ….
With Steve’s truly great vocals and his brilliant song writing ability, and a world class band to boot, Steve’s music blew audiences away, and attracted the very best musicians and vocalists, to be inspired by what he and the band delivered. His audiences often included some of the true greats, including Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne and Noddy Holder, to name but a few, the echoes of which still reverberate today.
……He continues to bring his music to fans old and new to the present day. Having said all of that his greatest talent is his grin!

(Everyone who has ever seen Steve Gibbons in concert will understand the last sentence).

Last weekend the time had come: The Lord Mayor of Birmingham Maureen Cornish presented the star, which will soon adorn Birmingham’s most important shopping street, at a ceremony in the Velvet Music Rooms in Broad Street on Sunday 6 November. This was followed by a concert by the Steve Gibbons Band featuring Johnny Caswell (guitar), Simon Smith (bass) and Howard Smith (drums).

We will report on this event separately.

Here are some links to the petition campaign, a radio interview with Ralph Radley, one of the initiators of the campaign, a report from the handover of the petition on 16 September 2019 and the announcement on the decision.

BTW: Steve`s star will be the 48th on the „Brum“ Walk of Fame.