Port Street, Manchester, site of former Ian Curtis mural, by Akse P19, painted over by rapper Aitch record label August 2022, NQ4, England, UK

Mural of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis painted over with advert Rapper Aitch has vowed to remove advert for his new album and restore the painting of ‘local hero’ in Manchester A mural of former Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis on Port Street, Manchester, has been painted over with an advert for local rapper Aitch, prompting such an outcry that the rapper has promised to restore the original painting. Aitch, an MC from Moston in north Manchester, said he had no control over which billboards were used to advertise his new album and would never have sanctioned such an act of “disrespect” against a “local hero”. “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, ” he tweeted. “I don’t just choose locations for billboards, ” he added. The monochrome mural by graffiti artist Akse P19 was created in October 2020 to commemorate World Mental Health Day. It depicts Curtis performing in Brussels in 1979, a year before he killed himself.