Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott to be honoured with plaque and statue in West Bromwich
Late Thin Lizzy legend Phil Lynott is set to be honoured with a special memorial plaque and sculpture in West Bromwich to mark what would have been his 70th birthday yesterday (20th August).
Last updated 9th Aug 2021
A green emerald plaque will be unveiled at Sandwell General Hospital – formerly Hallam Hospital - in West Bromwich at 2pm this Friday (23rd August) where Phil Lynott was born almost exactly seven decades ago.
Just two hours later at 4pm, a bronze bust of Lynott mounted on a steel plinth in West Bromwich Town Centre will be revealed to the public.
The memorials are the brainchild of retired journalist Sean Meaney, musician H from the Thin Lizzy tribute band Dizzy Lizzy, and member of Stourbridge foundation 4 music, Eddy Morton along with KenTastic.
Together they set up The Phil Lynott Convention to raise funds to pay for the monument and maintain its upkeep. After a flurry of donations, they smashed their fundraising target at the start of August.
Following the celebrations this week, there will be a yearly one day convention in West Bromwich to celebrate the life and career of both Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy.
Lynott’s beloved mother Philomena had hoped to attend the memorial unveilings this week, however she sadly passed away in June.
Sean Meaney told the Express & Star: “We lost Phil far too soon and it is sad that his mother wasn’t able to see this day.
“Despite her failing health, the devoted 88-year-old had told friends it was her dream to travel back to West Bromwich one final time to see her late rock star son honoured in the place of his birth. She was very emotional and felt that life had now come full circle.
“She sadly passed away just 10 weeks before the ceremony was due to take place. It has left us all shocked and tinged with sadness.
“It is the end of an era that will never be filled with such courage, determination and emotion.”
Philomena campaigned tirelessly for a statue of her son to be erected in Dublin and she duly unveiled the life-size bronze sculpture in 2005 on Harry Street, just off Dublin’s Grafton Street.
Yesterday, Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy frontman Ricky Warwick penned a poignant poem to his musical hero on Lynott's birthday.
He wrote:
I could never walk in your footsteps I could never last the pace I can only stand in awe beside you And never take your place
Rock legends immortalised as statues: