Statues of rock ‘n’ roll heroes
Posted by William David Wilson | Places To Visit
Bon Scott
An impressive life-size bronze statue of AC/DC’s late frontman was unveiled in 2008 on the Fremantle Fishing Boat harbour in Perth, Western Australia.
The statue features the iconic singer with a microphone in his left hand, tilted up as he sings, with the cable from the amp running through his right hand. He is dressed in his trademark tight jeans and his unruly mop of hair is recreated faithfully.
Scott grew up in Freemantle after moving from Scotland with his family in 1952. His short but hugely eventful life has become a huge part of rock ‘n’ roll folklore.
After spells in a number of local bands, he joined AC/DC in 1974, replacing Dave Evans as the lead vocalist.
AC/DC’s popularity grew steadily throughout the 1970s, firstly in their native Australia, and then across the world. Scott became well known for his powerful voice as well as his wild antics on and off the stage. Their breakthrough 1979 album Highway to Hell was a big hit, reaching the top 20 in the United States, but would be the last album the band recorded with Scott before his death.
On 19 February 1980, Scott died after a night of heavy drinking out in London at the Music Machine (now KOKO). Brian Johnson of the British glam rock band Geordie was recruited to fill the huge void left by Scott, after much deliberation about quitting altogether.
Scott’s body was cremated and his ashes are interred at the nearby Fremantle Cemetery.
Deceased blues icon Stevie Ray Vaughan has been immortalised in bronze and his life-size statue takes pride of place on Austin’s waterfront.
Vaughan was regarded as one of the most gifted guitarists to emerge out of the American blues revival of the 1980s. His colourful life and promising career was cut horribly short by a helicopter crash in 1990 after a concert in East Troy, Wisconsin with his older brother Jimmie, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray.
Hopping onboard an overnight helicopter bound for Chicago, the chopper tragically crashed into a hill just minutes after its takeoff, killing the bluesman and four other passengers onboard. He was just 35 years old.
The statue captures the bluesman in his trademark flat-rimmed hat, poncho and cowboy boots, stood tall and proud with his Fender Stratocaster guitar by his side. It is a popular stop off point for blues fans and those walking the Lady Bird Lake Trail. Flowers and tributes are often left by the statue.
Location: Lady Bird Lake Trail, Austin, Texas, USA 78704
This impressive bronze statue of the Fab Four taking a casual stroll on Liverpool’s Pier Head waterfront was unveiled by John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird in December 2015.
The statue – which was sculpted by Andrew Edwards – was donated to the city by the famous Cavern Club to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ last hometown concert at the Liverpool Empire in 1965.
The statue weighs in at a remarkable 1.2 tonnes, and instantly became a popular tourist stop off upon its unveiling.
Interestingly, the acorns in John’s hand were cast from some picked up from outside the Dakota Building in New York, where Lennon lived for the last few years of his life and was assassinated in front of by crazed fan Mark Chapman.
Location: Pier Head, Liverpool, England L3 1BY
A statue of the venerated folk musician was placed in his hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma in 1998 and is a must visit for fans who’ve made it out to his small hometown.
The life-sized statue was commissioned by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, who selected a local Creek Indian sculptor Dan Brook to cast Guthrie in bronze with his acoustic guitar.
Fittingly, the guitar itself is inscribed with his Woody’s famous declaration “This machine kills fascists.”
The statue stands proudly along the roadside down Broadway Street in Downtown Okemah, and has brought some much needed tourism to this sleepy part of Oklahoma.
Okemah – as well as the state of Oklahoma – has had a curiously troubled relationship with one of their most famous sons (due predominantly, it seems, to his defiantly left-wing political beliefs), but this statue of the Dust Bowl poet has gone some way to righting the ill-treatment of this American legend.
In the Hollywood Forever Cemetery stands a spectacular 8ft bronze tribute to the late Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone.
One of the four founding members of the legendary New York punk rock pioneers, Johnny is one of the most influential electric guitarists of all time. The forceful, down-stroke playing that became his signature laid the groundwork for the whole back to basics punk movement.
The influential axeman, who died from cancer on 15 September 2004, has since been immortalised in bronze. The realistic, 8ft tall memorial statue created in his honour features him sliding on his knees with his electric guitar in hand, complete with his trademark skin-tight jeans and bowl cut.
The base of the statue includes inscriptions from some of Johnny’s pals and fellow musicians including Eddie Vedder, Lisa-Marie Presley, Rob Zombie and John Frusciante. It also includes a choice quote from Johnny himself: “If a man can tell if he’s been successful in his life by having great friends, then I have been very successful.”
Since 2004, an annual Johnny Ramone birthday tribute has been held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, organised by friends of the late guitarist. A 10th anniversary show in 2015 organised by musician/director Rob Zombie included live performances of Ramones classics by some of Johnny’s pals, such as Zombie and former Sex Pistol Steve Jones.
A must visit for Ramones fanatics and punk rock aficionados who have made it out to Los Angeles.
With his mop of unruly hair, showmanship and effortless cool, the lead singer, principle songwriter and bassist of Irish rock group Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott was a bone fide rockstar.
Born in August 1949 in West Bromwich, England to a Brazilian father and Irish mother, Lynott moved to the Republic of Ireland at a young age and was raised by his grandmother.
Before forming the commercially successful Thin Lizzy, Lynott honed his talents in the bands Black Eagles, Skid Row and Orphanage.
He founded Thin Lizzy back in 1970 along with pals Eric Bell (lead guitar) and Brian Downey (drums). The band quickly earned a local following on the Dublin circuit and made their commercial breakthrough with a hit rock cover of the traditional Irish folk song ‘Whisky In The Jar’.
Nonetheless, personnel changes were made by Lynott, with guitarists Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham arriving to provide more muscle to the band’s sound. The band secured their biggest hit two years later, with the multi-platinum selling Jailbreak.
The album contained Lynott’s most famous composition, ‘The Boys Are Back In Town,’ which became a UK Top 10 Hit and cracked the US Top 20. The group split up in 1984 when Lynott decided to embark on a solo career.
Lynott struggled with addiction for much of his adult life and died aged 36, 11 days after collapsing at his home on Christmas day following a drink and drug binge.
Around 300 mourners attended his memorial service on 9 January 1986 in Richmond, Surrey. He was buried back home at St. Fintan’s cemetery in Dublin.
A life-size bronze statue of Lynott was unveiled in 2005 on Dublin’s Harry Street by his mother Philomena and his former band members Gary Moore, Eric Bell, Brian Robertson, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton.
Location: Harry Street, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
MoPOP, Seattle
After his tragic death at the age of 52 in May 2017, the city of Seattle and his widow Vicky got thinking of how best to pay tribute to one of its most famous sons, Chris Cornell.
One thing they decided on was the commissioning of a life-size statue of the former Soundgarden, Temple Of The Dog and Audioslave guitarist and singer outside the MoPOP in downtown Seattle.
The impressive tribute – which was created by noted artist Nick Marras – was unveiled on 7th October 2018, with Vicky, Chris’s children and his former bandmates from Soundgarden in attendance.
“As an artist, my husband was not only one of the greatest voices in rock history but also one of the greatest and most prolific poets of his time – his contribution to music birthed a movement that would leave an indelible mark on popular music forever. It only makes sense that I donate this statue to MoPOP with their dedication to the ideas and risk-taking that fuel contemporary popular culture,” Vicky Cornell wrote in a statement.
Location: MoPOP, 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, Washington, USA 98109
The legendary Jimi Hendrix is one of Seattle’s most famous sons, so it is only fitting that the psychedelic axeman is commemorated with an impressive statue up in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood.
The bronze statue – created by local sculpture artist Daryl Smith – features Hendrix in a real rock ‘n’ roll moment, sliding on his knees with his trusty Fender Stratocaster wielded horizontally. The detailed portrait even replicates Jimi’s fuzzy afro and trademark bandana.
Not surprisingly, the statue is popular with rock tourists, and sits close to the intersection of Broadway and East Pine Street.
Fans regularly gather on Hendrix anniversaries to leave tributes and play classics from his enviable repertoire. A must visit site for those rock pilgrims travelling to Seattle.
A bust of experimental musician Frank Zappa was unveiled in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius in 1995, two years after he passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 52 in 1993.
Designed by artist Konstantinas Bogdanas, the sculpture of the anti-communist, counter-culture icon (who had no links to Lithuania besides a sizeable cult following) was hailed as “a symbol that would mark the end of communism, but at the same time express that it wasn’t always doom and gloom.”
Behind the bust there is a suitably psychedelic mural. At the unveiling ceremony in 1995 the Vilnius military band performed various Zappa songs, before a firework display ended proceedings.
Zappa’s popularity has grown steadily in Lithuania since, as intrigued locals check out the music of the man who curiously stands tall in their capital city.