A TRIBUTE TO MOTORHEAD'S LEMMY KILMISTER, 1945-2015

LEMMY


“Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good.” - Lemmy Kilmister

On December 28th, 2015, the world lost heavy metal legend, Lemmy Kilmister (Ian Fraser). He was the singer, song writer, bassist and sole constant member of the band Motörhead. Many people credit Motörhead’s fast and heavy style for the creation of thrash music and speed metal. But Lemmy always liked to insist that Motörhead was simply a rock and roll band. Yet more than that, Lemmy was a living and breathing embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle. A heavy metal legend. A man that the world will not soon forget.

EARLY YEARS:

Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister was born on Christmas Eve 1945 in Stroke-on-Trent and grew up in North Wales. He was influenced by rock and roll music early on when he first heard the Beatles. In the 1960's he played with a number of rock bands, including the Rockin' Vickers, who were the first British band to visit the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Later in 1967 when he moved into a flat with Noel Redding (bassist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience), he got a job as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix.

lemmy kilmister

HAWKWIND:

In 1971 he joined the space rock band Hawkwind as a bassist and vocalist. He had no previous experience playing the bass, but learned quickly. He developed a distinctive style that was inspired by his earlier experience as a rhythm guitarist, often using double stops and chords rather than single note lines (as preferred by most bassists). He played with Hawkwind until 1975, when he was arrested on drug charges at the Canada/US border in Windsor, Ontario. He spent five days in jail and was released without charges. But he was still fired from Hawkwind nevertheless.

MOTORHEAD:

After Hawkwind, Lemmy formed a new band called "Bastard" with guitarist Larry Wallis (former member of the Pink Fairies, Steve Took's Shagrat and UFO) and drummer Lucas Fox. Lemmy and Took were friends. Not to mention that Took was the stepfather to Lemmy's son Paul. When their manager informed them that a band named 'Bastard' would never get a slot on Top of the Pops, they changed the name of their band to "Motörhead," which was the title of the last song Lemmy had written for Hawkwind. Soon after Motörhead was formed, both Wallis and Fox were replaced with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. With this line-up, the band began to achieve success. Lemmy's guttural vocals were unique to the rock and roll world at the time. Some say these vocals even inspired the punk movement. The band's unique sound had a good deal of appeal to punk fans, as well as fans of metal. Lemmy even played a handful of gigs with punk band, "The Damned," when the band had no regular bassist. Motörhead's success peaked in 1980-1981 with several UK chart hits, including the single 'Ace of Spades,' which remained a crowd favorite throughout the band's career.

 

COLLABORATIONS:

Over the course of his long musical career, Lemmy worked with several musicians, aside from his Motörhead band mates. He wrote the song "R.A.M.O.N.E.S", which he played live as a tribute to the band. He was brought in as a songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's 1991 No More Tears album, providing the lyrics and tracks for "Hellraiser," "Desire," "I Don't Want to Change the World," and the single "Mama I'm Coming Home." In 2013, Lemmy co-wrote a song with lead singer of Huntress, Jill Janus. The song was called "I want to Fuck You to Death."

lemmy and jill janus

DEATH:

On December 28th 2015, four days after his 70th birthday, Lemmy died in his home in Los Angeles from an extremely aggressive cancer. According to the band, his cancer had only been diagnosed two days prior to his death. His manager, Todd Singerman, later revealed:

He (Lemmy) gets home (from tour), we have a big birthday party for him at the Whisky A Go Go. His friends came down and played. Two days later I could tell he wasn't feeling good so we took him to the hospital, they release him, then after the brain scan they found the cancer in his brain and his neck... The doctor comes with the result a couple of days later and says... it's terminal.

Lemmy's memorial service and celebration of his life took place at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood on 9 January 2016. The service was streamed live over YouTube with more than 230,000 people logging on to watch. Lemmy's son, Paul Inder, led tributes saying: "Travel well, my dear father. You are back on the road for a longest tour to the great gig in the sky - we will never, never forget you. I love you."


MEMORIAL SERVICE AND CELEBRATION OF IAN FRASER "LEMMY" KILMISTER

 

ROB HALFORD (OF JUDAS PRIEST) SPEAKS AT LEMMY'S FUNERAL

 

MOTORHEAD'S - ACE OF SPADES (RIP LEMMY)

 

RELATED LINKS

born to win

Triple H Speaking at Lemmy's Funeral (Facebook)

The Metal Voice Interview With DORO PESCH: “Lemmy Saved my life” (Metal Shock Finland, 1-11-16)

35 Ways Motörhead Embodies Everything Heavy Metal (VH1)

RIP MOTORHEAD Frontman Lemmy Kilmister, 1945 – 2015 (Metal Injection)

MOTÖRHEAD’s LEMMY Dead At 70 (Blabber Mouth)