The Who receive first stone on Camden's Music Walk of Fame

The Who were honoured with a granite paving stone on the new Music Walk of Fame in London’s Camden Town. The stone is the first of hundreds that are planned to line the Camden streets between the Roundhouse on Chalk Farm Road and down the Camden High Street.

Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John’s son Chris Entwistle were there for the unveiling of the stone, which took place at the Music Walk of Fame launch ceremony on 19th November outside the Camden Town tube station. They lifted a cover off the stone, and were awarded trophies in front of fellow musicians and fans who lined the street, including a large gathering of mods who rode up on their scooters.

In a joint statement to the press, Pete and Roger said: "We are honoured to be the first band with a stone on the Music Walk Of Fame. Camden has always been vital to London’s thriving music scene and is, as we all know, a world-renowned hub for the arts. As Londoners, it’s very surreal to be immortalised in stone on Camden High Street, and it’s quite something to know that people can pop by and see us anytime, albeit virtually.”

The Music Walk of Fame was founded by promoter Lee Bennett, who got the idea for it after visiting the Hollywood Walk of Fame and thought they should do something like that in the UK. The stones also provide history of London’s rich music scene to visitors, who can pull up information and learn more about the artists using an app to view augmented reality.

The ceremony kicked off with speeches by Lee Bennett and Jazzie B, who unveiled the founding stone for the Music Walk of Fame. Lee Bennett said, “What a great day for music, fans, the world, London, and Camden. To cap it off by having one of the greatest bands of all time, I’m thrilled to bits.”

Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream followed with a speech about The Who that was read from his hand written notes. Then Pete and Roger took the podium and gave a brief speech before unveiling their stone.

Pete told the crowd, “I just want to say thanks. This isn’t really our neighbourhood, this should be going down in Goldhawk Road but those f*****s have got no money. This is great, I think this will be great for Camden, it will be great for London, it will be great for the neighbourhood and it will be great for our business. One of the biggest exports that we have in the UK for people of my age, who have grown up with music, is the fact that we are artistically very talented. We have all contributed, we are all still contributing and we will go on to do so, and this will be something that I think really is a measure of what we all do in this country, and my tax bill this year will hopefully go to fix the f***ing roads.”

Roger said, “I can’t do much talking, I’m off for a voice op on Friday but just to say it’s great. It’s a shame it’s not in the Goldhawk Road but it’s great that it’s in Camden because Camden’s roots with the music business go way back. It has a really good history of supporting the music business, a great place to come for the best of the music that is out there at the moment, so may it long reign. May this avenue of stars grow and grow and grow because we have, as Pete said, got the best music industry, real music industry, in the world.”

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey also spoke to the press, and posed for photos. Roger commented, “All we wanted to do when we got started was to have fun doing what we love to do, to play music. And here we are all these years later being honoured in this way, it's incredibly humbling.” Pete added, “The fact that Camden have come up with this and the council has agreed it is such a brilliant weez. This is the most rich music scene in the world. It has been for ages.”

Congratulations to The Who for receiving this great honour!

To learn more about the Music Walk of Fame, please visit themusicwalkoffame.com.

Here are a few photos and videos from the ceremony. Many thanks to Andy Rawll and Martin Sheen for sharing their lovely photos! Check out Andy's review on Decibal Report!

Music Walk Of Fame Photo credit: Andy Rawll