The tribute to the post-punk pioneer first appeared in October 2020 on a house in Port Street in the city’s Northern Quarter. Local artist Akse created the mural in collaboration with Headstock, a festival designed to bring together great music with mental wellbeing, in a bid to raise awareness for mental health and to promote Shout, a mental health free text messaging service constructed to help people with their mental wellbeing.

It’s come to light that the iconic Ian Curtis mural on Port Street has been painted over with my album artwork. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, me and my team are getting this fixed pronto. No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian.

MCR

— Aitch (@OfficialAitch) August 16, 2022

The rapper, however, to his credit, was quick to dispel any knowledge of the mural being tainted by an ad for his album, reassuring his Twitter followers of his desire to bring back the original artwork. He stated on the platform, “It’s come to light that the Ian Curtis mural on Port Street has been painted over with my album artwork. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, me and my team are getting this fixed pronto. No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian.”

The repainting of the mural will be done once more by the original artist Akse but in a different location, given that 75 Port Street now reportedly cannot be used anymore. The Star and Garter pub on Fairfield Street, a few streets to the South West of the original location, is now reportedly set to be the new location for the mural after it was revealed that Headstock are applying for planning permission to re-home the magnificent depiction of Curtis on the side of the pub.

The repainting of the mural is without a doubt a victory for Headstock and for the mental wellbeing of the people of Manchester and beyond and will, in turn, delight fans of Joy Division and of Curtis himself, who, after suffering from depression and epilepsy, sadly took his own life at the young age of 23, just before the release of Joy Division’s second album Closer and the group’s first North American tour.

Watch Joy Division perform “Transmission” on BBC music show Something Else in 1979 below:

Joy Division bassist and New Order co-founder Peter Hook was present, helping cut the ribbon by the new mural. Created by street-artist Akse, the work is based on a 1979 photo taken at The Factory/Russell Club in Manchester, right by Macclesfield bus station, by Kevin Cummins.

Peter Hook helps to cut the ribbon at the official unveiling of the Ian Curtis mural by @Akse_P19, taken from a Kevin Cummins photograph, in Macclesfield this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/Hz4Aq1eQTu

— Joy Division & New Order Pics (@JDNOPICS) March 26, 2022

Hook was obviously emotional about the whole thing. He said “I am actually very honoured to be here, and to do this, because to me it’s about time Ian came home …. I’m watching all the people going down the street and every single one of them is drawn to it. Some young kids walking down had no idea who [Curtis] was but now they do. Hopefully they’ll listen to the music and get the gist of what we were trying to do as kids.”  

The mural was funded by Cheshire East Council, a sign that Curtis’ home town is very proud of their own home-spun musical icon. Nick Mannion, who is chair of the economy and growth committee, said that “I am a huge fan of Joy Division – the cultural significance of the band and Ian stretches well beyond my home town of Macclesfield. This is such a proud moment, I’m feeling very emotional about it right now.“

If you’re interested in some other things artist Akse has been getting up to recently, he’s done murals for the likes of Captain Tom Moore (the WW2 veteran who raised money for the NHS in run-up to his hundredth birthday) and footballer Marcus Rashford as part of his portfolio.

As for Hook, he’s back in the limelight touring with his outfit Peter Hook and the Light. They’re due out on their ‘Joy Division: A Celebration’ tour next month with 12 dates lasting from April 7^th-30^th, an event where they’re expected to be playing both classic Joy Division albums in full, alongside some New Order material as well. And after that there’re some dates dotted around the UK and Ireland for July and November (as well as Europe and the USA for those of you this applies to). Tickets and full touring dates can be seen following this link.

UK dates begin exactly two weeks from tomorrow… Have you got your tickets?https://t.co/aRq5vk7N7r pic.twitter.com/kHxBrhnKA6 — Peter Hook (@peterhook) March 23, 2022