Birmingham Walk of Stars

The Birmingham Walk of Stars is an installation on the pedestrian pavement on Broad Street, Birmingham, England. It is of a similar style to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. It is funded by the Broad Street Business Improvement District.

Criteria

The criteria for a person to have their star added to the walk include that they must have performed at one of Birmingham's major venues such as the International Convention Centre (ICC), National Indoor Arena (NIA), Symphony Hall and The REP theatre. They must also be originally from the area or have prominent links with Birmingham and the Midlands region. The walk honours the residents of the city who have made a significant contribution in the categories of music, television, film, radio, theatre, sport, business and literacy.

History

The idea for a Walk of Fame style tribute was first thought of by a local Birmingham man Garry Raybould, who then approached Steve Hewlett at the Broad Street Business Improvement District who developed the idea. The name Walk of Stars was created together with a brand and website developed by Birmingham design company 383 Project, www.walkofstars.co.uk quickly became very popular and was chosen by Radio 2 as 'Website of the Day' The first star to be honoured was Ozzy Osbourne on July 6, 2007. The event was held in Centenary Square and introduced by Elliot Webb from Birmingham's commercial radio station BRMB and the star was presented to Ozzy by Lord Mayor of Birmingham Randal Brew. ^[1]^[2]^[3]

The Ozzy Osbourne presentation created £1.7M worth of worldwide publicity for the area. Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife, recorded in her autobiography Survivor, 'Birmingham is Ozzy's hometown and he's always more nervous there than anywhere else, knowing that so many family and friends will be watching him. He's being honoured in Birmingham's brand new Walk of Fame - their very first invitee and I know it's going to be emotional for him.'

Comedian Jasper Carrott was the second person to have a star installed on Broad Street on September 15, 2007. The star was presented to him by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham during ArtsFest in front of a 10,000 strong crowd.^[4]^[5] In December 2007, Noddy Holder became the third inductee on the Walk of Stars which was presented to him on a canal boat, during the Broad Street Christmas Canal Boat Light Parade.

The stars were briefly fenced off following safety concerns on the polished stars. Leicestershire-based Charcon Specialist Products, who produced the stars, was consulted over the situation.^[6] In June 2008, Murray Walker was inducted in to the walk of stars.

A joint induction took place on 12 September 2008 for BBC Radio 4 series The Archers and cast member Norman Painting.^[7]

On 7 October 2008, the BBC announced that Julie Walters would be inducted.^[8] The following month founder member of Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi was inducted.^[9]

On 26 March 2009, it was announced that each of five local Birmingham football clubs (Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Walsall, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers) would have a star commemorating one of their players. The presentation ceromonies will be staggered between May and August.^[10]

Stars honoured

Number	Recipient	Induction date	Profession	Comments	Location
1	Ozzy Osbourne	6 July 2007	Musician	Member of Black Sabbath	52°28′40″N 1°54′40″W / 52.47786°N 1.91099°W / 52.47786; -1.91099 (Ozzy Osbourne)
2	Jasper Carrott	15 September 2007	Comedian	Presenter of Goldenballs	52°28′31″N 1°54′51″W / 52.47539°N 1.91416°W / 52.47539; -1.91416 (Jasper Carrott)
3	Noddy Holder	9 December 2007	Musician	Member of Slade	52°28′37″N 1°54′43″W / 52.47706°N 1.91200°W / 52.47706; -1.91200 (Noddy Holder)
4	Murray Walker	28 June 2008	Sports commentator	BBC/ITV Formula 1 coverage	52°28′43″N 1°54′32″W / 52.47849°N 1.90879°W / 52.47849; -1.90879 (Murray Walker)
5	The Archers	12 September 2008	Soap opera	Long-running BBC Radio 4 serial	52°28′42″N 1°54′35″W / 52.47825°N 1.90978°W / 52.47825; -1.90978 (The Archers)
6	Norman Painting	12 September 2008	Radio actor	Voice of Phil Archer in The Archers	52°28′42″N 1°54′35″W / 52.47822°N 1.90985°W / 52.47822; -1.90985 (Norman Painting)
7	Tony Iommi	23 November 2008	Musician	Member of Black Sabbath	52°28′42″N 1°54′36″W / 52.47827°N 1.91012°W / 52.47827; -1.91012 (Tony Iommi)
8	82 Team	2 May 2009	Footballer	Aston Villa F.C.
9	To Be Announced	16 May 2009	Footballer	West Bromwich Albion F.C.
10	To Be Announced	August 2009	Footballer	Birmingham City F.C.
11	To Be Announced	August 2009	Footballer	Walsall F.C.
12	To Be Announced	August 2009	Footballer	Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
13	Julie Walters	To Be Announced	Actress/comedienne	Star of Educating Rita & Harry Potter Films

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Gallery

Ozzy Osbourne, 2007
Jasper Carrott, 2007
Noddy Holder, 2007
Murray Walker, 2008
The Archers, 2008
Norman Painting, 2008
Tony Iommi, 2008

References

^ Ozzy's Coming Home - July 6th 2007 3pm - 4.30pm
^ Ozzy Comes Home To Be Our First Star
^ Ozzy on home city's Walk of Stars - BBC News, 18 May 2007 (Accessed November 6, 2007)
^ Jasper Carrott To Be The Next Star
^ Carrott on Brummie Walk of Stars - BBC News, 15 September 2007 (Accessed November 6, 2007)
^ Walk of Stars is fenced off - Birmingham Mail, October 26 2007 (Accessed November 6, 2007)
^ Norman Painting and The Archers To Be Honoured
^ BBC Birmingham - Julie Walters
^ "Tony Iommi Rocks on to the walk of stars". Walk of Stars. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
^ "We're all about football this summer!". Walk of Stars. Retrieved 2009-03-26.

External links