Campaign Launched To Build Statue In Tribute To Buzzcocks Frontman Pete Shelley
The pioneering, Lancashire-born punk singer-songwriter died of a heart attack in his adopted home country of Estonia on 6 December.
A campaign has been launched in a bid to raise funds for a tribute statue to late Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley. As uDiscover Music previously reported, the lead singer of the legendary punk rock band died on 6 December in Estonia where he was living. He was 63.
Now a campaign to build a memorial statue of the singer in his hometown of Leigh, central Lancashire, has been launched by Council worker Paul Maiden. Maiden, who also works as a music promoter, has gathered hundreds of signatures in support of the venture. The Hindley Green independent also announced a fund-raising event to raise money for the statue.
“We really don’t seem to recognise anyone who does anything of note in the borough,” Maiden told local newspaper Wigan Today. “Shelley completed innovated punk music. He added melodies into it, he made the whole genre more melodic.
“Buzzcocks even shifted more albums than the Sex Pistols. I think it’s time that we thought about celebrating someone who has done something incredible in Leigh.”
Shelley’s family are believed to have leant their support to the idea. Maiden’s fund-raiser will take place at The Boulevard in Wigan on 19 January.
Meanwhile, Buzzcocks have backed a campaign to get their seminal hit ‘Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)’ to No.1 in the UK after Pete Shelley’s death. The online campaign has been backed by more than 2000 people.
“40 years on from the incredible track being released, the band deserves its first number one, plus it would be a brilliant tribute to Pete Shelley. The charts run from Friday to Friday, so get downloading the iconic song below and help us salute Pete!” the Change.org petition stated.
Endorsing the campaign, Buzzcocks wrote on Facebook: “While we are not the ones who started this campaign, have at it if you like.”
One fan responded: “One of the most original “punk” bands to come out of the 1970’s UK punk scene along with The Jam and Warsaw [Joy Division]. The Buzzcocks, though their name was decidedly punk rock, they were instant fans and played with all the English punk rock bands of the time, they were the different lot of UK punk rock way before the alternative music genre would come to exist. RIP Pete Shelley.”
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