Marc Bolan's life and music career has been honoured with a new blue plaque that was unveiled by English Heritage in London earlier today (30 September).
The new plaque is located at the late T. Rex frontman’s former home at 31 Clarendon Gardens in Maida Vale, commemorating his extraordinary contribution to British music and culture.
Today's unveiling ceremony featured speeches from an array of special guests, including Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman CBE, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and The Damned duo Captain Sensible and Rat Scabies. Speaking to M after the unveiling, Bobby said it was 'a huge honour' to be invited to speak at the event.
'I've been a Marc Bolan fan since 1971. His music has given me so much pleasure, joy and inspiration,' he said. 'His songwriting is completely unique, his lyrics are unique. No one else has sounded like Marc before or since. He invented his own vocabulary and his own form of communication. He's incomparable.'
In a statement about the unveiling, Rick added: ‘I am pretty sure that if Marc is with us in spirit today he’d be absolutely thrilled to see the blue plaque and probably would write a song about it.
'Marc was a truly remarkable person, with an extraordinary clarity of vision about what he wanted to achieve — a quality that made him unique across so many musical, fashion and artistic forms.’
To mark the occasion, two previously unreleased T. Rex recordings — I’m Dazed, a completely unheard T. Rex song that was recorded in 1975 which you can listen to below, and a rare take of Billy Super Duper — have also been shared today.
Commenting on the releases, Rick added: ‘To think that after all these years, we’re still discovering unheard T. Rex tracks like I’m Dazed and Billy Super Duper is just incredible and proves how deep and rich Marc's creativity really was.'
Marc's enduring influence includes his gift of royalties to charities including the PRS Members’ Fund, which offers vital support, including financial assistance, to songwriters and composers during periods of hardship.
Main image credit: David Parry.
