Vote for Stars
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30th June, 2009Bill Oddie
William Edgar Oddie, OBE (born 7 July 1941) is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who first became famous as one of The Goodies.
A birdwatcher since his childhood in Birmingham, Oddie has now established a reputation for himself as an ornithologist, conservationist and television presenter on wildlife issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings.
Oddie’s wildlife programmes for the BBC include: Springwatch / Autumnwatch, How to Watch Wildlife, Wild In Your Garden, Birding with Bill Oddie, Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie and Bill Oddie Goes Wild. Bill is also President of the Birmingham-based West Midland Bird Club.
8th January, 2009Clive Owen
Born in Coventry on October 3rd, 1964, actor Clive Owen won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe in 2005 for his performance in Closer.
His other roles include Derailed, Sin City, Inside Man, Children of Men, The Bourne Identity, Gosford Park, and Elizabeth; The Golden Age. His 2009 releases include Duplicity where he rejoins Julia Roberts.
12th August, 2008Joan Armatrading
Armatrading was born in Basseterre, Saint Kitts in the West Indies and moved with her family to Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, in 1957.
Armatrading began writing lyrics and music at the age of 14. Her first job was working at Rabone Chesterman (makers of fine engineering tools), in Hockley, Birmingham. She was sacked from this job because she insisted on bringing her guitar to work and playing during tea breaks.
21st August, 2007The Moody Blues
Founded in 1964 the Erdington, Birmingham based group soon found worldwide fame with their progressive rock style and fusion with classical music. With massive record sales in the USA, the UK and throughout the world, their hits include ‘Nights in White Satin’ and ‘Go Now’.
Still together today, although the original line up has changed over the years, and firmly part of Birmingham’s proud music heritage.
19th August, 2007Toyah Wilcox
Born in Birmingham in 1958, actress, singer, TV presenter and broadcaster, Toyah shot to fame in the late 70’s and 80’s during the punk rock era. Voted best British Female Singer in 1983, she has since appeared on many prime TV programmes and continues to perform on occasions with her band.
19th August, 2007Jeff Lynne
Jeff was born in 1947 and is a Grammy award winning musician he was a member of The Move with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan and was one of the driving forces behind the highly successful ELO (Electric Light Orchestra).
Jeff’s career continued as a sought after songwriter, singer, guitarist and music producer. In 1988 he formed the Travelling Wilburys, with George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison.
19th August, 2007Roy Wood
Born in
With over 20 hit records, his most regularly requested track is the popular ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ which is one of the most recognisable songs during the festive season.
19th August, 2007Bev Bevan
Born in Birmingham in 1944, Bev was one of the original founding members and drummer with The Move and Electric Light Orchestra.
During the 1980’s he also played drums for Black Sabbath. As well as being a renowed musician, Bev is also a radio broadcaster and has continued touring with his own band ‘Bev Bevan’s move’.
19th August, 2007Electric Light Orchestra
More famously known as ELO, the group was formed in the early seventies mainly from the intial set up of the band The Move.
Formed by Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan and Roy Wood they soon became one of the biggest bands in the world, with 20 UK hits and 15 US hits.
19th August, 2007Judas Priest
Formed in Birmingham in 1968, Judas Priest are credited with having a huge influence over many heavy metal musicians over the years.
Lead by singer Rob Halford, the band are still together today and have a massive worldwide following. Named by MTV as one of the most important bands in heavy metal history.
19th August, 2007Richard Hammond
Richard is a successful TV and radio presenter, who has risen to fame in recent years as one of the co-presenters on BBC’s Top Gear.
Famously involved in a near fatal crash in 2006 whilst filming the show, Richard has also presented a number of shows for Sky and NNC and his own daytime show, ‘Richard Hammond’s 5 o’clock show’ on ITV.
19th August, 2007Denise Lewis OBE
Born in 1972, Denise became a member of Birmingham’s famous Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club from an early age. Her specialist competition was the heptathlon.
She went on to acheive major success with gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A sporting legend, Denise also formed part of the delegation that helped to win the 2012 Olympics for London.
19th August, 2007Johnnie Walker MBE
19th August, 2007Martin Shaw
Born in Birmingham in 1945, a respected actor on screen and theatre. Martin became well known for his role as ‘Doyle’ in ‘The Professionals’.
After spending most of the 1980’s working in theatre, both in the West End and on Broadway, he returned to TV in the 90’s in the police series ‘The Chief’ and more recently in the title role of BBC’s hit series ‘Judge John Deed’.
19th August, 2007Benjamin Zephaniah
Born in Birmingham in 1958, Benjamin is a world respected writer and poet.
With doctorates at a number of universities he famously publicly refused the offer of an OBE in 2003.
19th August, 2007Adrian Chiles
Born in Birmingham in 1967, journalist and broadcaster who was awarded a Sony Gold Medal in 2002 for his Radio 5 Live show.
His successful TV presenting covers BBC2’s Working Lunch, Match of the Day, the early evening The One Show on BBC1 and more.
19th August, 2007James and Oliver Phelps
Born in Sutton Coldfield in 1986, the actor twins are known worldwide for playing Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter films. Their characters form part of a major storyline in the final book, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’.
19th August, 2007Jeremy Clarkson
Born in 1960, Jeremy is a former resident of Birmingham, actually living on Broad Street! Most famously known as presenter of BBC’s Top Gear.
26th May, 2007Tiswas
Created in 1974 and produced from the ATV studios in Broad Street, Birmingham, Tiswas quickly became a national phenomenon, running until 1982.
Hosted by Chris Tarrant and Sally James it also starred Lenny Henry and Bob Carolgees plus many more famous names over the years. The original Tiswas studios are due to be demolished soon for a new £800M development.
16th May, 2007Sir Simon Rattle
Sir Simon was the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the City of Birmingham’s Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) from 1980 to 1998.
His achievements included relocating the orchestra to Broad Street’s world renowned Symphony Hall in 1991. He was awarded a CBE in 1987 and was knighted in 1994. He has since conducted orchestras all over the world and is now the Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra.
16th May, 2007Cat Deeley
Born in Sutton Coldfield, presenter Cat started her career at MTV, followed closely by ITV’s SM:TV, CDUK and Stars in their Eyes.
Now a major, well known TV personality in the USA and a presenter on the hugely successful American Idol series, she’s now regularly watched by by an estimated weekly audience of 56 Million people.
16th May, 2007Robert Plant
Robert was born in the Midlands in 1948. He started work in the construction industry in Birmingham, before soon becoming one of the world’’s greatest rock legends, with Led Zeppelin. Their most famous tracks were ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Whole lotta love’. Some of his songwriting was inspired by another Midland great, author J.R.R.Tolkien. Throughout the 80’s he embarked on a successful solo career and in 2005 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Vote for Robert Plant now!
16th May, 2007UB40
All of the band are Birmingham born and bred, they’ve been global superstars for 27 years and they’re still as strong as ever, having popularised reggae around the world.
They continue to ‘champion’ their home city on their sold out world tours and they’re a big part of Birmingham’s proud music heritage.
16th May, 2007Duran Duran
Formed in 1978 at Broad Street’s infamous Rum Runner club. Founders of the New Romantic scene throughout the world and still together today, they are firmly part of Broad Street’s proud history.
16th May, 2007Nigel Mansell OBE
Nigel was born in the Midlands and lived in Birmingham, where he was educated. He studied Engineering at the city’s Matthew Boulton College before entering motor racing in 1976.
He joined Formula One in 1980 and won many races throughout the 80’s and finally became F1 World Champion in 1992. He went on to become the American equivalent CART Champion in 1993 and he’s still the only person in history to hold both titles simultaneously.
16th May, 2007Lenny Henry
Lenny was born in the West Midlands in 1958 and consistently won ATV’s Birmingham produced New Faces in the mid 70’s. He soon became an infamous member of the Tiswas team which was also filmed at the ATV studios in Broad Street, Birmingham.
A comic star of stage, TV and cinema, Lenny had a Hollywood film ‘True Identity’ in the early 90’s. Married to comedienne Dawn French, he’s been a major force behind Comic Relief since 1985 and is the well known face of Red Nose Day. He has helped raised millions of pounds for charity.
16th May, 2007Jamelia
Singer, songwriter and model, Jamelia is Britain’s top R&B artist. Born in the Midlands in 1981 and raised in Birmingham, she has played many outdoor gigs in Birmingham’s Centenary Square on her rise to fame.
Cover girl on many magazines and a double MOBO winner, she’s one of Birmingham’s new generation of major stars.