Fundraising starts for Slade statue in Wolverhampton
It's to honour the global impact the Black Country glam rockers have had
Plans have been unveiled for a giant Slade statue in their home city of Wolverhampton.
The ambitious plans would see the Black Country Glam Rockers immortalised in honour of their global impact.
It's the brainchild of the team at Wolverhampton Music Heritage, who are now crowdfunding for the whopping £31,000 price tag of the artwork.
"Slade have been a huge part of the UK music since the seventies, and they've been largely ignored by people," said Chris Selby who's from the organisation.
"They had as much success as the Beatles, you know - they had six number ones.
"They toured all around the world. They made one of the greatest films by a rock group ever made. But they've been largely ignored.
"So, we thought it'd be nice to have some sort of recognition, and a statue or a monument in Wolverhampton seemed to be the ideal thing."
Mr Selby is in touch with Don Powell and Jim Lea from the band, who are all for the idea, and hopes that Noddy Holder and Dave Hill will "give it a thumbs up" too.
Renowned Black Country sculpture Luke Perry has been commissioned to make the sculpture - he's got a long history of honouring the region's finest through his work, including through the Windrush monument in Wolverhampton and sculpture in honour of the Second World War reserved occupation workers in Cradley Heath.
The Slade artwork hopes to be "a striking, modern public monument celebrating Wolverhampton’s most iconic cultural export".
Mr Selby said a fundraising page has been set up and a number of events will be planned to help foot the bill.
"Lots of bands say 'Slade were a huge influence on us', or 'if it hadn't been for Slade, we wouldn't have picked up guitars, we wouldn't have sung' and all that sort of stuff.
"And there's still people who do that today."
The team at Wolverhampton Music Heritage said: "This monument is not just a tribute to four local lads who changed rock history; it is a permanent reminder that global success can start right here."