(NNPA)—Activist/SiriusXm satellite radio host Joe Madison was helping on a campaign to get the Four Tops a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame when he noticed another serious omission from the world-famous tribute to entertainers.
“You go to Hollywood and Gene Autry had five (one in each category). Big Bird had a star. When we did our campaign to get the Four Tops a star, I said, ‘My God, Dick Gregory doesn’t have a star.’” In 1997, seven years after getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Four Tops—whose 1960s hits included such songs as “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Ask the Lonely,” “I Can’t Help Myself” and “It’s the Same Old Song”—finally were awarded a star.
But Madison couldn’t get over the fact that Dick Gregory, the first Black comedian to earn more than $1 million a year yet gave up his career to actively support Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, hadn’t been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“You can walk down there and not see Dick Gregory, but you’ll see Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and Whoppi Goldberg,” Madison said. “ I don’t know of any entertainer from the era who sacrificed more than Dick Gregory.”
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