Steve Albini honoured in Chicago with eponymous street name

A new bill has passed, making the 2600-2700 block of West Belmont Avenue in Avondale, between North Rockwell Avenue and North California Avenue, “Steve Albini Way”. This stretch of road is where his iconic Electrical Audio studio resides.

Steve Albini died of a heart attack, in May. As well as fronting bands such as Shellac and Big Black, Albini was notable for his work on legendary albums such as Nirvana’s In Utero, Pod by The Breeders, Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, Rid of Me by PJ Harvey, Things We Lost in the Fire by Low, and many more.

Chicago renames street "Steve Albini Way" https://t.co/GwMzm3v6ye pic.twitter.com/xYbPUofWLz

— BrooklynVegan (@brooklynvegan) July 29, 2024

Earlier this year, Primavera Sound named a state after Albini in tribute to his long-standing relationship with the festival due to his band Shellac. The website states that their "resident band" has played fourteen times at the festival, despite that the band doesn't believe that festivals are "venues for musicians or music fans", yet they have continuously made an exception.

"On Thursday at 18:55, when Shellac's free rock was scheduled to storm back into the festival like a ritual: at that time their stage will become the meeting point for fans who want to say goodbye to Albini while their new album, To All Trains, is playing. Inevitably Primavera Sound has lost a compass, but fortunately Steve Albini has marked the way forward forever," said a statement on their website.