Legendary DJ ​Tony de Vit awarded blue plaque in Birmingham

Legendary DJ Tony de Vit is being awarded a blue plaque in Birmingham's Digbeth, marking the first time a DJ has ever received the honour.

The blue plaque marking Kidderminster’s de Vit will be put up on September 24 at a ceremony hosted by Birmingham Civic Society, due to be held at Digbeth’s Custard Factory.

The plaque will be installed at the Custard Factory recording studios where the late DJ made more than 100 tracks - 11 of which would end up in the UK singles chart between 1994 and 1998.

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The DJ became one of the most popular in the UK at the time, playing regularly at clubs across the country with other 30 or 40 dates every single month.

Tony de Vit passed away in 1998 at just 40 years old after he collapsed on holiday. During his life, the DJ and producer had a hand in making and remixing more than 100 tracks.

The blue plaque will also honour de Vit’s “break down of barriers in society”, according to a press release, as a spearhead of the ‘90s club scene in Birmingham.

"I’m so delighted that a historic institution like the Birmingham Civic Society is recognising the contribution that Tony de Vit has made, not only to Birmingham’s dance and music culture, but also the influence he’s had on a generation of DJs, clubbers, promoters and audiences," says Jez Collins of Birmingham Music Archive.

"Not many people realise that Tony started his career in Birmingham DJing at the seminal Nightingale Club where he would take his music from a predominantly gay audience into the mainstream. It was at the Custard Factory where he launched V2 Recording Studio with Simon Parkes so it is fitting the Blue Plaque is on this site," he said.

As part of Birmingham Pride weekend in September, the ceremony will also honour de Vit’s contribution to bringing LGBTQ+ communities together, taking the sound of the queer underground into the mainstream in the mid-'90s.

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The ceremony will be followed by a Pride party on September 24, which is also set to take place at the site of the Custard Factory in Digbeth.

Though this is the first time in history that a DJ has been awarded with a blue plaque, recent guerrilla awards honouring the late Andrew Weatherall by street artists have popped up in London.

The fake plaques appeared on the side of buildings where the producer previously worked and made music, all of which have been attributed to one group coined by Juno as ‘The Andrew Weatherall Blue Plaque Society’.

Find tickets to Tony de Vit’s blue plaque unveiling ceremony here.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter