A mural to Joy Division’s iconic frontman Ian Curtis is set to return to Manchester after the original was painted over last year with an ad for local rapper Aitch’s debut album.

The tribute to the post-punk pioneer first appeared in October 2020 on a house in Port Street in the city’s Northern Quarter. Local artist Akse created the mural in collaboration with Headstock, a festival designed to bring together great music with mental wellbeing, in a bid to raise awareness for mental health and to promote Shout, a mental health free text messaging service constructed to help people with their mental wellbeing.

It’s come to light that the iconic Ian Curtis mural on Port Street has been painted over with my album artwork. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, me and my team are getting this fixed pronto. No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian.

MCR

— Aitch (@OfficialAitch) August 16, 2022

The rapper, however, to his credit, was quick to dispel any knowledge of the mural being tainted by an ad for his album, reassuring his Twitter followers of his desire to bring back the original artwork. He stated on the platform, “It’s come to light that the Ian Curtis mural on Port Street has been painted over with my album artwork. This is the first time I’ve heard of this, me and my team are getting this fixed pronto. No way on earth would I want to disrespect a local hero like Ian.”

The repainting of the mural will be done once more by the original artist Akse but in a different location, given that 75 Port Street now reportedly cannot be used anymore. The Star and Garter pub on Fairfield Street, a few streets to the South West of the original location, is now reportedly set to be the new location for the mural after it was revealed that Headstock are applying for planning permission to re-home the magnificent depiction of Curtis on the side of the pub.

The repainting of the mural is without a doubt a victory for Headstock and for the mental wellbeing of the people of Manchester and beyond and will, in turn, delight fans of Joy Division and of Curtis himself, who, after suffering from depression and epilepsy, sadly took his own life at the young age of 23, just before the release of Joy Division’s second album Closer and the group’s first North American tour.

Watch Joy Division perform “Transmission” on BBC music show Something Else in 1979 below: