More than 40 years after their debut as one of the most influential groups, New Edition was honored by the city of Boston street renaming and a proclamation on Saturday (August 30), CBS News reported.
Each member, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe, and Johnny Gill was in attendance in the neighborhood where most of them grew up (Gill born in Washington D.C.).
For their immense contributions to music and entertainment, a portion of the street in Roxbury was renamed “New Edition Way/
””I now have the honor of officially declaring today ‘New Edition Day’ in the city of Boston,” Mayor Michelle Wu said to the raucous crowd.
“From the beginning, when they first gathered in the Orchard Park Rec Center a couple blocks away, or when they were performing at the Strand Theatre, New Edition’s sound was different. But together, they were undeniable. They still are,” Wu continued.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley described the group as “the blueprint for the modern day boy band.”
“These are six extraordinarily talented Black men, five sons of Roxbury and one of the DMV, whom we happily embrace,” Pressley noted.
“Whenever I attend a New Edition concert I’m struck each time by the generations – 15 year olds, 50 year olds, 70 year olds — these fans are moving, singing… bonded for a moment, reminiscing and laughing, and most of all, free,” she added. “This is a legacy and this is the impact of legends.”
During the ceremony, the group expressed their gratitude to the city of Boston and their adoring fans
“We did it, huh?” Tresvant said. “Everything we learned, the way that we are, our attitude, our swag, is from all of y’all. We got what we got from here.”
“I’m just gonna say thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Brown added. “I really appreciate everyone that’s out there. New Edition is the way life is and has been for us for a long time.”