Wu-Tang Clan’s final show in Philly is Friday, but we’ll always have the ‘ODB McDonald’s’

Since getting its start in Staten Island more than three decades ago, the Wu-Tang clan has been bringing the ruckus to cities all over the world. But this week, the legendary hip-hop collective will play the final show of its last live tour right here in Philadelphia.

The group’s “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber” tour is slated to reach its finale Friday at the Wells Fargo Center, closing out a 27-date stint of farewell performances. The date may cap the Wu’s lengthy touring career, with group leader RZA telling the New York Times earlier this year that the run of dates is likely “the last time you see us all together in the physical.”

But as Philly hip-hop heads know, Friday won’t be the city’s first time as the backdrop for important Wu-Tang Clan lore — perhaps the best-known piece of which occurred in November 2000.

That month, late Wu-Tang Clan founding member Russell Tyrone Jones — a.k.a. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, a legend in his own right — walked into a McDonald’s at 29th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue while on the lam. With his arrest, the so-called “ODB McDonald’s” was born.

A quarter-century later, that humble South Philly McDonald’s remains inextricably linked to Ol’ Dirty Bastard and the Wu-Tang Clan, at least unofficially. Here is how the story unfolded:

ODB was known not only for his rapping, but for his frequent run-ins with the law over charges ranging from drug possession to being a convicted felon in possession of body armor. His path to Grays Ferry, however, began with his escape from a court-ordered drug treatment facility in Pasadena, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2000.

The rapper had been sentenced to the treatment program as part of a plea bargain for making a terroristic threat, but counselors planned to ask him to leave the program on the day of his escape, the Daily News reported.

Dirty remained on the run for more than a month, famously turning up as part of a surprise appearance at a Wu-Tang Clan show in Manhattan on Nov. 21, 2000. The group was celebrating the release of its third studio album, The W, and ODB appeared onstage to perform several songs with the group before fleeing, avoiding apprehension despite several police officers being present in the audience, according to the Daily News.

“I can’t stay on stage too long tonight — the cops is after me,” he reportedly told the crowd.

Following his appearance onstage in New York, ODB made his way to New Jersey to hide out, according to The Dirty Version, a 2015 biography by longtime friend Buddha Monk and author Mickey Hess. There, the rapper stayed with a group of friends and associates in Willingboro and Florence-Roebling.

Local reports from 2000 indicated police were not sure why the rapper was in Philadelphia when he was arrested, but according to The Dirty Version, ODB’s friend who helped him hide out had a car in for maintenance at a shop on Washington Avenue in Grays Ferry. While Dirty was in hiding, work on the vehicle was finished, and he tagged along to pick up the car.

After picking up the vehicle, the group pulled into the McDonald’s at 29th and Grays Ferry so Dirty could use the bathroom. But once there, according to the book, ODB realized he “ain’t had a fish filet sandwich in a minute,” prompting his friends to place an order, and ultimately leading to his arrest after employees recognized him and called the police.

ODB was arrested just before 4 p.m. on Nov. 27, 2000, The Inquirer and Daily News reported. Officer Rebecca Anderson was on patrol at the McDonald’s and spotted the rapper in a blue 1991 Mitsubishi Galant with New Jersey tags.

Anderson, who declined to speak to media at the time, reportedly knew Dirty from his music and was aware he was wanted by police. She stopped the vehicle after requesting backup and took the rapper into custody without incident. He was being sought on four warrants in New York, and one in Los Angeles.

“He liked Philadelphia,” a man named Irie, who identified himself as the rapper’s brother, told The Daily News following the arrest. “He wanted to buy a house here and everything. I doubt it now. He ain’t going to be buying nothing for a while.”

Dirty, meanwhile, was taken to the First Police District at 24th and Wolf Streets for processing. There, instead of the fish sandwich he wanted, he was offered “a cheese sandwich and iced tea,” The Inquirer reported.

“I’ll see y’all in a couple years,” ODB could be heard yelling to his friends at the police station in the days after his arrest, according to The Daily News.

He was, it turned out, correct. After waiving extradition, he pleaded guilty to drug charges in New York state in April 2001 in exchange for a promised sentence of two to four years. He spent just over two years in prison in New York before being released in May 2003.

In November 2004, ODB died of an accidental drug overdose at a New York City recording studio. He was two days shy of his 36th birthday.

A decade after his death, the legend of the “ODB McDonald’s” was well-known in Philadelphia. And, incidentally, 2014 marked the year the site was eligible for a historical marker — a designation suggested that year by one Adam Butler, who posted a Change.org petition requesting that the Pennsylvania Historical Marker Program recognize the site.

“Jones’ escape and time on the run made him a popular folk hero and his capture at the McDonalds was national news,” the petition noted. In an update, Butler noted that some folks considered the petition to be “in poor taste or exploitative,” but he insisted the request was genuine.

“The intent here is positive — ODB was a legend, and this is meant to be a celebration of his Philly connection,” he said.

The petition garnered more than 1,300 signatures, but the historical marker never came to fruition — and, in 2022, the building was replaced with a newer, spiffier version. That, however, has done little to stop the restaurant’s unofficial moniker as the “ODB McDonald’s” from sticking around.