Scottish Music Icons Endorse New Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Initiative
Several prominent figures in Scottish music have expressed their support for a proposal to transform Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) into a Scottish Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame. The CCA, located on Sauchiehall Street, closed earlier this year following financial difficulties.
The organisation ScotsRock aims to acquire the building and develop it into a centre celebrating Scotland's significant impact on the global music scene.
Midge Ure, known for his work with Ultravox, Band Aid, and Live Aid, has agreed to serve as the inaugural Patron of ScotsRock. The initiative has also garnered backing from notable artists including Lulu, Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, Travis, and Del Amitri.
Proposed Features of the Venue
The plans for the revamped venue include a permanent exhibition and visitor experience, educational and outreach programmes, and a creative industries hub designed to support emerging music and creative businesses. Additionally, the facility would house archive and heritage resources.
It would offer a year-round schedule featuring permanent and temporary exhibitions, concerts, talks, and special events that celebrate both Scotland's rock music heritage and its contemporary artists.
Support and Vision from Midge Ure
Midge Ure commented on the project:
"This has never been done, and it should have been done. In hindsight, it's a major mistake. For a small country we punch way above our weight when it comes to global musicians. If you go to Cleveland, their Hall of Fame is very American, so I ask myself, why are we not doing the same in Scotland? We should be and I'm very proud to be part of it."
Leadership and Future Plans
Ronnie Gurr, former chief executive officer of the Scottish Music Industry Association, spoke on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast programme about the project, describing it as "a very ambitious project whose time has come." Gurr, who would serve as senior curator of the proposed hub, emphasized that the Hall of Fame would honour the past while helping to shape the future.
"The key thing is the Hall of Fame honours the past but it should also help shape the future. So the plans is that it's not only a museum but also there would be a live venue. At a time when grassroots music venues are closing at a rate of knots, that's a welcome addition. That would be shaping the future of the country's music as well."
Support from Leading Scottish Musicians
Jim Kerr, frontman of Simple Minds, is among the prominent Scottish musicians supporting the initiative.
Background on the Centre for Contemporary Arts Closure
The CCA announced its permanent closure in January after serious financial concerns emerged. This decision came just a year after the centre received three years of funding amounting to £3.4 million from the arts organisation Creative Scotland.
At the time of closure, Creative Scotland stated it could not continue funding because the CCA was "unable to demonstrate its ongoing viability and therefore cannot deliver the activity set out in its multi-year funding agreement." The organisation also indicated it would explore future options with the goal of reopening the centre as a cultural resource as soon as realistically possible.
Creative Scotland has since endorsed plans by several funded theatre companies to take over the venue.
The CCA has faced challenges in recent years, including a forced closure in 2018 due to a fire at the nearby Glasgow School of Art. Following its reopening, some businesses that rented space within the building did not return.
