Pictured L-R: Jamie Webster, Billy Bragg, Chris Packham (PHOTO c Peter Dunwell)
BILLY BRAGG
HONOURED TODAY WITH PAVEMENT PLAQUE ON CAMDEN MUSIC WALK OF FAME
Billy Bragg, who this year is celebrating a remarkable 40 years as Britain’s favourite folk singer, songwriter and campaigner, has today (Sat 9th Sept ’23) been honoured with a plaque on the Camden Music Walk Of Fame. Previous inductees include Madness, Amy Winehouse, The Who, David Bowie, The Kinks and many more.
At a red-carpet ceremony this morning on Camden High Street, tributes were paid to Billy by rising Liverpool singer/songwriter Jamie Webster and by TV presenter, naturalist and activist Chris Packham (both pictured above alongside Billy).
Said Billy, when unveiling the prestigious award stone embedded in the pavement: “I wish my mum had been here to see this. She was my biggest supporter and my fiercest critic. She said of my early records: ‘if you carry on making that racket, you’ll end up on the streets’. Well I’ve finally made it mum!”
Quoting extensively from the Bragg songbook, Chris Packham in his heartfelt tribute, told how Billy’s lyrics had inspired him: “Bill is a spokesperson not just for one but several generations because he spoke to us about us – with clarity and wit and kindness. But he also instructed us, pricked our consciences or kicked our arses with demands.
“You can be active with the activists, or sleep in with the sleepers, while you’re waiting for the Great Leap Forwards.”
His poetry and lyrics should continue to compel us to act.
“I should have seen it coming, but I looked the other way
I didn’t need the trouble messing up my day
I figured if I walk on by somebody else could pay
I should have seen it coming, but I looked the other way”
From my perspective that could be applied to climate breakdown. It’s a warning unheeded, and sadly we are still looking the other way. That’s why Billy Bragg’s name is written in stone. He found the bravery to protest, he found the romance to sing and he found a beauty in all our lives to give us hope. And ultimately he will always be the only star on these pavements who had an uncle who played for Red Star Belgrade.”
Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for 40 years. He has released 11 solo studio albums, three albums with Wilco and one album with Joe Henry. He released a mini album Bridges Not Walls in 2017. His performances at the BBC were anthologised in The Best Of Billy Bragg At The BBC 1983-2019 (2019).
Billy Bragg added best-selling author/musicologist to his CV with the success of his acclaimed 2017 book Roots, Radicals & Rockers – How Skiffle Changed The World. He has written two books of political analysis – The Progressive Patriot: A Search For Belonging (2006) and The Three Dimensions of Freedom (2019).
At the end of October ‘23 Billy will release a career spanning box set of his work entitled ‘The Roaring Forty’.
