Triple celebration to be held in home town of Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley to mark this birthday

To commemorate the occasion on Wednesday, April 17, a new memorial lyric bench will be unveiled in a project that has been developed from a partnership between the Pete Shelley Memorial Campaign (PSMC) and Wigan Council.

It had been in the planning for almost a year, when the PSMC asked fans of Pete to select their favourite lyric written by him.

He wrote a host of famous songs, including Buzzcocks’ Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve), before his death in 2018, aged 63.

But campaign organisers did not anticipate the response they would receive, as they were inundated with hundreds of lyric suggestions.

These were passed to Pete’s widower Kid and his family and they were asked to whittle this list down to the 17 lyrics that they felt were most appropriate.

The bench is being made by Leigh-based metal fabricator Weldfast and will be located outside Leigh Library, directly facing the large mural of Pete that was revealed in 2022.

It will be unveiled at 6pm on Wednesday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Paul Hanley, legendary drummer with The Fall and now drummer with House of All.

Afterwards, PSMC will host a question and answer session, book launch and book signing session with Paul at the library.

His recent book, entitled Sixteen Again, looks at how Pete and the Buzzcocks changed Manchester music, with the official release date coinciding with Pete’s birthday.

Paul will be grilled by compere Jeffarama and there will be opportunities for the public to ask questions, buy books and have them signed.

Paul said: "I am honoured to be in Pete’s home town on what would have been his birthday.”

Also performing at the event will be Buzzcocks tribute band Buzzkocks, who will perform an acoustic set of Pete Shelley songs.

There will also be the unveiling of a memorial garden for Pete and Paddy Mitchell, a well-known member of the Leigh community who died following illness in 2023, aged 56.

He was a friend of Pete’s and previously worked alongside his dad John, as well as being a big supporter and follower of PSMC and attending all of the fund-raising events.

The memorial garden will sit in a raised planter behind the bench and will be filled with plants and flowers, along with memorial plaques paying tribute to Pete and Paddy.

A spokesperson from PSMC said: “It’s great to continue the story of Pete Shelley in his home town of Leigh and we hope that Pete continues to serve as a visitor attraction for his home town, as culture and heritage is very important.

“We hope the lyric bench will be quite thought-provoking and people that don’t know Pete Shelley will go on to research the lyrics, the songs and the man himself.

"It’s a great story of a local lad from humble beginnings who went on to worldwide successes.”

Tickets for the event are available to buy for £4 at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-pete-shelley-sixteen-again-with-paul-hanley-tickets-855222572737.