Sound investment as Philly honors more artists with plaques on Music Walk of Fame

Philadelphia has honored its musical legacy in the sidewalk along South Broad Street. The Music Walk of Fame is now embedded with eight new plaques, representing 16 artists.

Peter Crimmins

October 5, 2017

Jill Scott, a Philadelphia native and a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, is honored with a plaque on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame during a ceremony outside the Kimmel Center. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Music fans gather on the sidewalk outside the Kimmel Center, where eight new plaques were added to the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Jill Scott blows a kiss to the crowd gathered on South Broad Street to watch her plaque added to the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. With her is her son Jett Roberts, 8. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Jett Roberts uncovers the plaque for his mother, Jill Scott, at the Walk of Fame awards. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Members of the group LaBelle (from left) Patti LaBelle, Sarah Dash, and Nona Hendryx accept a citation as a plaque honoring the group is added to the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Patti LaBelle, who already had a plaque on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame, is applauded as her group, LaBelle, is added. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Members of the group LaBelle uncover their plaque at the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame ceremony. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Members of the group Sister Sledge pose for photos after their plaque was added to the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The Rev. Joe Williams (second from right) accepts a citation for Sister Rosetta Tharpe, whose name was added to the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe is considered ''The Godmother of Rock and Roll,'' for her contribution to the creation of rock as a guitar-playing gospel star from the 1930s to the ‘60s, with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard and Chuck Berry citing her as an inspiration. She died in Philadelphia in 1973. (Philadelphia Music Alliance)
Bob Pantano, host of ''Saturday Night Dance Party,'' receives a citation from Philadelphia city Councilmen Kenyatta Johnson (left) and Mark Squilla (right) to commemorate their inclusion on the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Members of the group Soul Survivor (from left) Charlie Ingui and Kenny Jeremiah, accept a citation from City Councilman Mark Squilla (right). (Emma Lee/WHYY)
McFadden & Whitehead, who wrote and produced some of the most popular R&B hits of the 1970s for Philadelphia International Records, were added to the Walk of Fame. Gene McFadden (left) died in 2006 and John Whitehead (right) died in 2004. (Philadelphia Music Alliance)
Chris Schwartz and Joe Nicolo, founders of Ruffhouse Records, were honored with a plaque on the Walk of Fame. (Philadelphia Music Alliance)

Philadelphia has honored its musical legacy in the sidewalk along South Broad Street. The Music Walk of Fame is now embedded with eight new plaques, representing 16 artists.

A couple hundred people gathered outside the Kimmel Center Wednesday to watch the stars put their stars into the pavement. Some fans were holding old vinyl records — clearly well-loved with ragged-edged sleeves — by Sister Sledge and Patti LaBelle to be autographed.

The induction ceremony this year included singer and actress Jill Scott, who thanked Philadelphia performance venues and radio stations.

“I want to thanks WDAS and Power 99,” she said to the cheering crowd. “Thank you for playing my Gamble and Huff, playing LaBelle, playing Sister Sledge. Thank you for Ortlieb’s and Warmdaddy’s, and the Arden Theatre and Walnut Street Theatre Company. All these places and incredible music have given birth to me. It’s why I’m here..

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“Schuylkill Punch is no game,” she added, saying the the river water bisecting Philadelphia has magically produced some of the best musicians in the world.

Scott was speaking directly to Patti LaBelle, who was there with Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx, members of her old group, LaBelle. Together they had a string of funk and disco hits before breaking up in 1976.

Patti LaBelle went on to enjoy an immensely successful solo career and she has her own star on Philadelphia’s Walk of Fame. This new plaque is for the entire LaBelle group.

“Most people don’t know this, but we’re still in contact with each other every day,” she said. “We plan to tour again and record again. We’re forever young, forever singing, and forever friends, forever.”

Also inducted Wednesday were Sister Sledge, the Soul Survivors — famous for the song “Expressway to Your Heart” — and the founders of Ruffhouse Records, which had the Fugee and Cypress Hill on its roster.

Posthumously inducted were the duo McFadden and Whitehead (“Ain’t No Stopping Us Now”) and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who is already remembered in a state historical marker at the site of her former home in North Philadelphia. She died in 1973.

“She tuned a guitar so special,” said the Rev. Joe Williams, formerly of the Dixie Hummingbirds, who accepted the award on behalf of Tharpe. “No guitar player today living knows how Sister Rosetta Tharp tuned her guitar.”

The Walk of Fame also included DJ Bob Pantano with a special broadcaster award. This year, Pantano celebrated his 40th anniversary of spinning records for the “Saturday Night Dance Party.”

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