Despite being an international star he remains virtually unknown in his home town
Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, aka Air Supply, have been honoured with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (Image: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Air Supply)
Marilyn Monroe, Tom Hanks, Elvis Presley and Steven Spielberg are amongst the big names to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Now the illustrious line-up of singers, actors and entertainers includes the first person from Nottinghamshire ever to be celebrated with an iconic star.
Graham Russell, from Arnold, has been honoured, together with Australian singer Russell Hitchcock, who together make up Air Supply.
The duo’s epic ballads All Out of Love and Making Love Out of Nothing At All soared up the UK charts in the 1980s and they have enjoyed 51 years of success around the world, selling more than 100 million records and performing nearly 6,000 gigs.
During the ceremony in Los Angeles, Graham, a singer-songwriter and guitarist, revealed: “When I heard we were getting our star, I burst into tears. It’s just incredible.”
The 76-year-old told the Nottingham Post: “Being the first person from Arnold to have this honour is very important to me. I’m very proud to be where I’m from. It says that anything is possible.”
(L>R) Pat Sajak, Graham Russell, Russell Hitchcock and David Foster at the ceremony(Image: Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Air Supply)
The ceremony took place at 6126 Hollywood Boulevard, marking the 2,859th star awarded in the category of ‘recording’.
Pat Sajak, a well-known retired TV game show host in the USA and David Foster, record producer for Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand and Michael Bublé, praised the duo’s indelible mark on music.
Their journey began when they met during rehearsals for an Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975. The two struck up an instant friendship and bonded over their mutual admiration of the Beatles. They went on to form Air Supply, opening for Rod Stewart on tour in America.
Achievements include eight top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and five consecutive top five singles that matched The Beatles’ record during their prime.
One of Air Supply’s early albums
Not only one of the most successful pop duos in history, they are some of the hardest-working musicians, performing around 130 shows around the globe every year. They have gigs coming up in the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and America between now and the end of the year.
And it doesn’t stop there with a new album A Matter of Time set for release.
In 2023 Graham, who lives in Utah, in the United States, paid a flying visit to UK to visit his childhood home, a modest semi in Arnold, for the first time in more than 60 years — the place where he first started writing.
Despite being an internationally renowned musician, he cut an anonymous figure on the town’s high street, which he put down the fact Air Supply have never played in Nottingham or even toured the UK.
Graham Russell, of Air Supply, in Arnold in 2023 (Image: Lynette Pinchess)
He said at the time: “This is the really weird thing because in our early career when we first broke in the US we concentrated so much on the US and then Japan and Asia and Latin America.
“We had some big hits here but we never came here to tour and I think that was a mistake. My ultimate goal would be to play at the Concert Hall in Nottingham. I would love to play here to show people what I’ve done.”
Three years on, that goal is about to be achieved. In exclusive news, Air Supply are set to play the London Palladium on May 15, 2027, and Nottingham on May 16, just four days after their 52nd anniversary.
The shows have yet to be officially announced but Graham said: “I’m incredibly excited to perform in my home town, it will be very emotional for me. I hope we get a good audience, but whoever comes will get an amazing show.”