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‘He was everything’: Detroit pays Tribute to Amp Fiddler with street dedication
Amp grew up in the East Side neighborhood just seconds away from Pershing High School
Jay Scott Smith, ReporterPublished: May 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Tags: Detroit, Wayne County, Amp
Fiddler
‘He was everything’: Detroit pays Tribute to Amp Fiddler with street dedication
DETROIT – The corner of 7 Mile Road and Revere Street in Conant Gardens will now forever be known as Amp Fiddler Avenue.
The official unveiling happened on Friday (May 16) down the street from his former home during a celebration that has been known in the city as Amp Fiddler Day for the last year.
“He was everything, hip-hop and everything in between,” Detroit City Councilman Coleman Young II said. “He was just something that breaks every single music genre. He was versatile. He was like water – wherever he was, he would just take that shape, he would take that form."
Born Anthony Joseph Fiddler on May 16, 1958, in Detroit, Amp grew up in the East Side neighborhood just seconds away from Pershing High School, where he started his musical journey with the R&B group Enchantment.
His musical influence bridged the gap between the funk, R&B, and house music of the 1970s and 80s and the hip-hop and neo-soul music of the late 1990s and into the 21st century.
“To me, that Amp is the goal for all of the creatives that come out of Detroit – immortality,” JeRon Strozier, an artist from Detroit, said.
He painted an oil painting of Fiddler and presented it to his family after the unveiling.
“Amp is gone, but his legacy, his influence, and his impact on our city and our culture will live forever,” Strozier said.
Amp was a member of Parliament Funkadelic in the 1980s and worked with artists ranging from Prince and Maxwell, to Jamiroquai and Seal, to A Tribe Called Quest and Slum Village.
In his 40-plus years in the industry, he mentored dozens of artists. He‘s credited with introducing J Dilla to the Akai MPC drum machine, which he would use to create his legendary library of hip-hop music.
“He provided so many different resources, and it wasn’t always music, sometimes it was styling, but anytime he felt that there was a need, he gave because he was mentored,” Tombi Stewart, Amp’s widow, said.
“So, when you think about his mentors, like George Clinton and, you know, Marcus Belgrave and Harold McKinney, they poured into him.”
The celebration was spearheaded by Stewart, who fought through tears while speaking on his legacy.
She led the campaign for the city to recognize Amp following his death from Cancer on Dec. 18, 2023.
One year ago, the city declared his birthday as Amp Fiddler Day in the city.
Amp_Fiddler
Stewart said that while he may not have been a household name outside of Detroit hip-hop and soul music circles, his influence in helping so many artists become stars warranted recognition.
“Even though he‘s not a staple, he became a little more familiar, so the city of Detroit actually advocated for a lot of these things and move things seamlessly for us,” Stewart said.
Amp had a massive influence on so many artists, who she said would have seen their careers go in a different direction if not for his guidance.
But she also remembers the human being that he was.
“Amp was sensitive, but creative, bold, and stubborn and caring, giving, but a creative, brilliant talent, and it’s unmatched,” Stewart said. “When people saw him, it’s like he‘s otherworldly.
“He was a tall, statuesque man who was wildly talented, but so accessible within your reach and working,” Stewart added. “And he also had experience of being rejected, and he didn’t want people to experience that, so he embraced anyone that was within his reach”
‘He was everything’: Detroit pays Tribute to Amp Fiddler with street dedication
The corner of 7 Mile Road and Revere Street in Conant Gardens will now forever be known as Amp Fiddler Avenue.
www.clickondetroit.com
