The Wesley Willis Tower Unlike most of the central figures in Chicago’s mid-nineties alternative-rock gold rush, Wesley Willis’ legacy remains untarnished by time. As one of the city’s most beloved outsider musicians and artists, he was, figuratively and literally, a towering figure in the scene. In a town that’s been slow to acknowledge its African-American heroes, it’s time to pay tribute to Willis, who passed away in 2003, with a lasting memorial in Wicker Park’s eponymous green space. Make it a bronze, Sears Tower-shaped monument, featuring reproductions of his intricate sketches of local architecture, and emblazoned with his unforgettable call to arms: “Rock over London, rock on Chicago.”
