A memorial headstone for music legend Tony Wilson has been unveiled at his grave – three years after his death.

The black granite tablet, designed by Wilson’s friend and Factory Records designer Peter Saville, was erected in Southern Cemetery, Chorlton.

It reads ‘Anthony H Wilson. Broadcaster. Cultural Catalyst. 1950-2007’.

Wilson, who helped put Manchester on the world map with the Hacienda nightclub and Factory Records, died in August 2007 after losing his battle with cancer.

But it has taken three years for the 5ft by 3ft headstone to be designed and placed at his grave.

There has been a temporary stone memorial at the site since Wilson’s death.

Peter Saville, pictured left, said the new stone is reminiscent of the vast, black obelisk in the cult film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

He said: “I think everyone involved in this felt it was more pressing to get it right, rather than to bother too much about time frame. The black, polished granite was shipped in from India, which took six months.

“There were also a lot of people to consider and we wanted to get it right.

“It is completely different from all the other stones around it, but it reflects them. It’s a polished, black tablet that has just arrived in that place.”

At the foot of the stone there is a quote, chosen by Wilson’s family, from The Manchester Man, the 1876 novel by Isabella Varley Banks, who wrote as G Linnaeus Banks.

The quote reads: “Mutability is the epitaph of worlds/Change alone is changeless/People drop out of the history of a life as of a land/though their work or their influence remains.”

Wilson’s close friend and former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook said: “When you lose someone that close to you it’s very hard – as it was for Peter Saville. I think it’s a wonderful tribute that Peter designed the headstone. I look forward to seeing it.”

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