New Edition to Be Honored with Boston Street Renaming and All-Day Celebration

Boston will officially recognize August 30th as “New Edition Day,” highlighted by renaming a portion of Dearborn Street in Roxbury to “New Edition Way.” According to CBS Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu announced the tribute and encouraged residents to join a morning ceremony and afternoon block party.

“It is an honor to welcome home Roxbury natives New Edition to celebrate their global impact,” Wu said, calling it “a unique opportunity to bring Boston’s neighborhoods together in a celebration of culture, pride, and community.”

Formed in Roxbury in 1978, the group, Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant, and Johnny Gill, achieved chart success both as a collective and in solo or spin-off projects. They are widely regarded as the foundation of the modern-day “boy band.”

For Brown, the moment is deeply personal.

“Boston is where it all began for us,” he said. “This honor means the world to me.”

The city will hold the street naming at 10 a.m. on August 30th at Ambrose and Albany Streets, officially designating the area as “New Edition Way.” The neighborhood, formerly known as Orchard Park, was home to the group’s founding members.

A community block party follows at 11 a.m. outside the Orchard Gardens Boys & Girls Club, offering music, a youth backpack giveaway, free food, family activities, and a special appearance by New Edition.

Michael Bivins emphasized the group’s enduring fanbase, telling WBZ-TV in 2023, “We probably have one of the biggest, powerful, loyal foundations that we could ever have. They are called ‘in it for-lifers.’”

The “Candy Girl” singers were also inducted into the Black Music Hall of Fame in 2022, further cementing their legacy as Boston music icons.