Pulp Get Sheffield Walk of Fame Star Outside Town Hall
Pulp now have a star on Sheffield's walk of fame. The plaque was unveiled outside the town hall, and the band was named a legend of its home city.
Singer Jarvis Cocker and other past and present members of the group came to the ceremony. The Lord Mayor of Sheffield, Andrew Sangar, pulled back a red cloth with Cocker while dozens of fans cheered. Pulp join Gordon Banks, Dame Jessica Ennis and Michael Palin, among others, on the walk.
"There was no musical accomplishment required"
Cocker told the crowd it was nice to be given a legend star and that he would walk past it at some point. He said the best part of being in a band is inventing things and making things up for yourself.
The group started when he was at school in 1978, he said. "It was just, have you got some time on Friday evening, and would you come to my mother's house while she's at the pub so we can make some noise?" he recalled. Over the years, he added, the noise became more palatable.
Fran Belbin, leader of Sheffield Council, pointed to the band's 15 years of relative obscurity. In her words, they persevered and stuck at it, and that is "a really strong message" for people making music in their bedrooms or creating art in other ways.
Pulp had critical success in the mid-1990s with the album Different Class and the single Common People. A teenage band played that song for fans shortly before the unveiling.
Guitarist Mark Webber called it "a very strange and unexpected day". He said nobody would have thought they would be "embalmed on the pavement" outside the town hall.
Fans queue at the Hallamshire Hotel
The band also held a pop-up event at the Hallamshire Hotel. Drummer Nick Banks and keyboardist Candida Doyle sat down for a meet-and-greet, and some fans had been in the queue since the morning.
One fan, Eleanor, said she had travelled from Sweden. Another, Molly from Northumberland, queued for two hours. She said her husband told her she could see the band as often as she liked when they reformed in 2023.
The pub was decked out with cardboard cut-outs and merchandise. It planned a Pulp-themed quiz, a raffle, a fancy-dress competition and karaoke through the day.
Source: BBC News