Harlesden's Reggae Legends Get Star-Studded Walk of Fame Debut!

A new walk of fame called the Harlesden Walk of Music has been launched in north-west London to celebrate the area’s rich reggae heritage. The project was inspired by the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was created by the community group Harlesden Bassline, working with Brent Council. It was funded with £70,000 from the UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. The walk features commemorative discs that honor musicians, producers, and record shops that helped make Harlesden the reggae capital of the UK, especially since the arrival of the Windrush generation. The launch took place on International Reggae Day, July 1st, and recognized artists with ties to the area, such as Janet Kay, Aswad, General Levy, and The Cimarons.

After World War Two, Harlesden became home to one of London’s largest Jamaican communities. This led to the growth of reggae, ska, dub, and lovers rock music in the area. Record shops and labels like Orbitone and Jet Star Records played a big role in this development. Sonny Roberts, a Jamaican-born producer, was a key figure in the scene. He opened Britain’s first black-owned recording studio, Planetone, in nearby Kilburn in 1961. Later, he ran the Orbitone record shop and label in Harlesden until he returned to Jamaica, where he passed away in 2021. His daughter, Cleon Roberts, co-founded the Harlesden Walk of Music. She explained that her father’s generation had to build the music industry from scratch because there were no recording studios for black musicians from the Caribbean.

Other important voices in the project include Roy Forbes-Allen of Hawkeye Records, who said Harlesden is known as the UK reggae capital and hopes more legends will be honored in the future. Tony Gad from the band Aswad said the walk will help preserve reggae’s history for future generations, especially since there were few ways to document music history in the past. Brent Council’s Tina Amadi said the project is part of a plan to bring pride and investment back to Harlesden’s high street, support the community’s cultural heritage, and make the area safer. Local residents welcomed the walk, saying it is like having a Hollywood strip in Harlesden and that people should appreciate the area’s contributions to music.