A Blue Plaque has been unveiled for the late T. Rex frontman, Marc Bolan, at his former home in Maida Vale.
Bolan — a driving force in the glam rock glitterati of the 1970s — wrote, played and sang tracks including Get It On, Deborah and Jeepster, helping to define the sound of a brief but sparkling era in rock. The official English Heritage Blue Plaque was unveiled on 30 September 2025 at Bolan's former home at 31 Clarendon Gardens, Maida Vale by a coterie of rock stars including Bobby Gillespie, Captain Sensible and Rick Wakeman.
Bolan (originally Mark Feld) lived at this address for a couple of years with his wife June Child — from late 1970 till late 1972 — at which point he had to move to a more private London abode, because the attention from fans was becoming 'oppressive'. (In those two years, Bolan had produced some of his biggest ever hits.) There are some great photos of Marc and June in the flat here.
The unveiling of the plaque coincides with the release of I'm Dazed, a previously unheard T. Rex track recorded in 1975 — discovered on long-forgotten studio tapes — alongside a rare alternate take of Billy Super Duper.
Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who also played on T.Rex recordings, said: "I am pretty sure that if Marc is with us in spirit today he'd be absolutely thrilled to see the Blue Plaque and probably would write a song about it... Marc was a truly remarkable person, with an extraordinary clarity of vision about what he wanted to achieve — a quality that made him unique across so many musical, fashion, and artistic forms."
Bolan — who died after his car ploughed into a tree in Barnes in 1977 — already has a number of plaques in London, including at Golders Green Cemetery and at one of his former digs in Stoke Newington. There's also a 'tree shine' to the rock star at the site of his tragic death.
A couple more major Blue Plaques are due to be unveiled very soon: for the pianist Winifred Atwell (a formative influence on Elton John) and Audrey Hepburn, who lived for a stint in Mayfair.
