Boston will officially mark Aug. 30 as “New Edition Day,” capped by renaming a stretch of Dearborn Street in Roxbury as “New Edition Way.”
According to CBS Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu announced the plans and invited residents to turn out for a morning ceremony and an afternoon block party.
“It is an honor to welcome home Roxbury natives New Edition to celebrate their global impact,” Wu said, calling it “a unique opportunity to bring Boston’s neighborhoods together in a celebration of culture, pride, and community.”
New Edition formed in Roxbury in 1978. The lineup—Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant, and Johnny Gill—went on to chart hits as a group, while members also built successful offshoots.
The group is considered by many music historians to be the foundation of the modern-day "boy band."
For Brown, bringing the honor back to the neighborhood is personal: “Boston is where it all began for us,” he said to the outlet. “This honor means the world to me.”
The schedule is set as follows: at 10 a.m. on Aug. 30, the city will hold the street naming at the corner of Ambrose and Albany Streets in Roxbury, officially designating Dearborn Street as “New Edition Way.” Founding members grew up in the surrounding area, once known as Orchard Park.
A community block party follows at 11 a.m. outside the Orchard Gardens Boys & Girls Club. The event will feature music, a youth backpack giveaway, free food, family-friendly activities, and a special appearance by New Edition, providing fans with an opportunity to celebrate this hometown milestone together.
Fans have fueled the group’s endurance over more than four decades. As Michael Bivins put it in a 2023 interview with WBZ-TV, “We probably have one of the biggest, powerful, loyal foundations that we could ever have. They are called ‘in it for-lifers.’”
The “Candy Girl” singers were also inducted into the Black Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
