Ian Curtis’ home to become Joy Division museum after fan buys property for £190k
Photo: Getty
The former home of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis is to be turned into a museum dedicated to the late singer after a fan of the band purchased the property.
Earlier this year it was reported that campaigners were seeking to raise £115,000 for the two-bedroom property at 77 Barton Street, Macclesfield, which was put on the market by its current owners in February.
The house was used as a location in the 2007 Anton Corbijn-directed film Control.
While Curtis’ former bandmate and New Order member Bernard Sumner said that he was “torn” by fans’ proposals to turn the house into a museum, Joy Division’s bassist Peter Hook recently gave his blessing.
SEE MORE: Joy Division – 20 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘Unknown Pleasures’
Now entrepreneur and musician Hadar Goldman, 48, has purchased the property at its asking price of £115,000, plus £75,000 in compensation and legal fees. “Although I paid £190,000 – nearly double the asking price – I felt as if I had to get involved, especially after hearing the plight of the fans who had failed to raise the necessary funds to buy the house owned and lived in by one of the musical heroes of my youth,” Goldman said of the purchase. “Joy Division left a musical legacy which has influenced many of today’s bands.”
“This is not just about history and the past,” he continued. “The Joy Division legacy deserves to be taken into the 21st century, to raise awareness into one of the most seminal bands in the history of contemporary music.”
A press release states that “any venture to preserve the heritage of Joy Division would be sympathetically conceived and developed”.
This week marks 35 years since Ian Curtis’ passing. The frontman took his own life on May 18, 1980 at the age of 23, days before Joy Division were due to undertake a US tour.
Bands including Django Django, Slaves and Everything Everything spoke about their feelings for the frontman in an NME video tribute to mark the milestone.
Peter Hook paid tribute to Curtis recently, saying, “Ian was a fantastic lyricist and a wonderful, wonderful frontman. I think he’s just an inspiration to people, especially when they’re at an age where they’re looking for something in life.”
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