LONDON London (CelebrityAccess) – Nicky Hopkins, the late respected session artist, will be honored with a memorial park bench in his hometown of Perivale, Ealing, London.
The bench, which will be located in Perivale Park, will be unveiled by his widow, Moira Hopkins in a ceremony on September 8th. To make the bench unique to Hopkins, the seat of the bench will look like a large piano keyboard while the backrest will feature display photographs of Nicky, his biography, the top 20 tracks he played on as chosen by his fans, as well as a quote from Bob Harris.
Nicky recorded and performed with many of the top acts in rock from the 1960s to the 1990s, including the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, David Bowie, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Garfunkel, The Kinks, and The Who among numerous others.
The bench is being crowdfunded through PledgeMusic, the online direct-to-fan music platform. From 12 noon BST on Monday 21st May 2018, for a pledge of £100, Nicky Hopkins fans can have their name inscribed as a donor on the back of the bench. Their pledge will also allow them to nominate Nicky Hopkins tracks to be considered for inclusion in the Top 20 Tracks that will be listed on the bench.
Pledging will end at 12 noon BST on Saturday 30th June 2018 or when all 340 name places are taken. Once the bench and admin costs are covered, all proceeds will go towards funding a music scholarship at London’s Royal Academy of Music. Nicky himself won a scholarship at the Royal Academy in the 1950s.
The decision to honor Nicky in this way was that of Gray Levett, Nicky’s former personal manager, and John Wood, one of his more vocal fans.
“It’s unbelievable to think that Nicky won no awards for his stellar contribution to the music industry. Many fans feel, as do I, that he is the ultimate unsung rock hero and that he definitely deserves to be included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We hope this memorial will go some way towards acknowledging Nicky for his extraordinary talent. We’re hoping that his bench will find its way onto London’s rock tourist circuit, attracting fans from all over the world,” Levitt said in a presser announcing the drive.
