The City of Liverpool will honor former Beatle Pete Best by naming two streets in his honor, it was revealed Monday. The city will name "Pete Best Drive" and a second street, "Casbah Close," in honor of Best and the Casbah Club in Liverpool owned by the Best family. The Casbah Club was the venue for many performances by the Beatles before they became famous.
"We are humbled and flattered that the City Of Liverpool has decided to honour both Pete and the Casbah Coffee Club for their contribution to Liverpool's cultural heritage," read a statement on Best's website Pete Best.com.
The city already has streets named after John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Roag Best, Pete's brother and manager, was quoted by the Liverpool Echo saying he wished his mother, Mona Best, was around to see this because "without her none of it would have happened.”
The Liverpool Echo reports both streets are on Everton football club's former Bellefield training ground in West Derby.
In January, Liverpool council members threw their support behind the movie to name the streets after Best. The campaign gained steam in February after more than 10,000 supporters signed a petition to support the campaign.
"This is the culmination of a long campaign to have Pete honoured in Liverpool, and it is great credit to Gene Grimes who has campaigned long and hard for Pete to receive recognition in Liverpool," said David Bedford, author of "Liddypool," a book about the city's cultural heritage surrounding the Beatles.
"I have been honoured to help the campaign in raising international awareness of our local campaign and we are delighted to have received thousands of messages of support from fans all over the world."
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