{"id":366103,"date":"2025-12-24T14:41:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/366103\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T14:41:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:41:16","slug":"the-life-legacy-and-legend-of-lemmy-kilmister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/366103\/","title":{"rendered":"The life, legacy and legend of Lemmy Kilmister"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"cd1afbf1-c394-4b83-b9af-0e59fb06fbe7\">Ian Fraser Kilmister didn\u2019t just live rock\u2019n\u2019roll, he was rock\u2019n\u2019roll. For 40 years, this roaring warlord led <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/motorhead-studio-albums-ranked-worst-to-best\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/motorhead-studio-albums-ranked-worst-to-best\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mot\u00f6rhead<\/a> on a crusade to show every other band that had ever existed up for the makeweights they were.<\/p>\n<p>During that time, no bottle of Jack Daniel\u2019s was left undrunk, no cigarette left unsmoked, no line of speed unsorted, no eardrum unbattered. It wasn\u2019t so much a badge of honour as instinct. He was Lemmy. That is what he did.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\" data-url=\"\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"cd1afbf1-c394-4b83-b9af-0e59fb06fbe7-2\">2025 is a year of Mot\u00f6rhead anniversaries. It marks 50 years since the band formed, and 10 years since their frontman died. Lemmy passed away on December 28, 2015, four days after his 70th birthday and 17 days after what would turn out to be Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s last gig \u2013 exactly the same amount of time between his great friend <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/music\/albums\/every-ozzy-osbourne-solo-album-ranked\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/music\/albums\/every-ozzy-osbourne-solo-album-ranked\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ozzy Osbourne<\/a>\u2019s farewell at the Back To The Beginning show and his own passing a decade later (maybe the old reprobates had planned it in advance).<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p>Lemmy may no longer be with us, but his legacy definitely is. This is the story of the real man behind the myth, by the people who knew him.<\/p>\n<p>Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Ace Of Spades (Official Video) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766587268_865_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Ace Of Spades (Official Video) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-3mbvWn1EY6g\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3mbvWn1EY6g\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3mbvWn1EY6g\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"a6fe61ac-9b5b-43f9-bb33-8d8af7ce21b2\">Lemmy was born in Stoke-on-Trent on Christmas Eve, 1945, and raised by his mother after his biological father, a vicar, left the family when his son was just three months old. The young Lemmy passed through several groups in his late teens and early 20s, including The Rockin\u2019 Vickers and Sam Gopal, but it was his four-year stint in psychedelic explorers <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/hawkwind-best-albums\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/hawkwind-best-albums\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hawkwind<\/a> in the early 70s that gave him his first real taste of success.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Brock [Hawkwind singer\/guitarist]: \u201cBeing in a band with him was never dull. We were young and Hawkwind was an eccentric band, so he fitted in with us really well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell [Mot\u00f6rhead guitarist 1984 onwards]: \u201cI actually met him way back when he was in Hawkwind. I went to see them at the Cardiff Capitol Theatre and hung around in the big foyer hoping to meet them. Lemmy was the only one that came out. He signed my programme. I\u2019ve still got that somewhere. If someone had told me that day I\u2019d be in a world-famous band with that guy for over 30 years\u2026 it\u2019s inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n<p>Dave Brock: \u201cPart of the growing divide [in Hawkwind] was that Lemmy took downers and speed, while the rest of us were into LSD. Things came to a head when he got pulled at the Canadian border in 1975. Lemmy had a tiny packet of speed on him. They mistook it for cocaine and he got thrown into jail.<\/p>\n<p>So with everyone believing he might be in prison for a year or more, there was a big band meeting. He was voted out by two to four. It fell to me to break the bad news. He was really upset. He went back to England. Apparently he slept with several of the band\u2019s girlfriends\u2026 who knows whether or not that\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:67.00%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/nD6YYaEUjnkzhWhxMVeAie.jpg\" alt=\"Jorgen Angel\/Redferns\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/nD6YYaEUjnkzhWhxMVeAie.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/nD6YYaEUjnkzhWhxMVeAie.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p id=\"eac66157-9f4d-48c3-b9cd-92473da5784a\">Lemmy bounced back from his firing from Hawkwind by forming a new band in 1975. Originally named Bastard, they were wisely rechristened Mot\u00f6rhead after <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/music\/tracks-singles\/motorhead-by-motorhead\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/music\/tracks-singles\/motorhead-by-motorhead\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a song he\u2019d written and recorded<\/a> with his former. Thanks to albums such as 1979\u2019s Overkill and Bomber, 1980\u2019s Ace Of Spades and 1981\u2019s No Sleep \u2019Til Hammersmith (a UK No.1), Lemmy, guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke and drummer Philthy Animal Taylor became one of the rare bands that metal fans, punks and bikers were all allowed to like.<\/p>\n<p>You may like<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cThe first time I heard Mot\u00f6rhead was around the time of that first album [1977\u2019s self-titled debut]. They sounded so different from anything anyone had ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kim McAuliffe [Girlschool]: \u201cWe supported them on the Overkill tour. They\u2019d heard our first single, and liked it. And Lemmy being Lemmy, he probably thought, \u2018An all-girl band, oi oi!\u2019 We were quite scared to meet him. Of course, as soon as he walked in, we got on like a house on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biff Byford [Saxon]: \u201cI first met Lemmy in \u201979 when Saxon supported Mot\u00f6rhead on the Bomber tour. They were in the front of the bus and we had the back. They were into quite heavy drugs, speed was their thing. All three of them were fucking nuts. But there were hidden depths with Lemmy, once you got to know him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kim McAuliffe: \u201cHe was a gentleman around us. He did introduce us to Special Brew, though. We always say we blame Lemmy for all our bad habits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biff Byford: \u201cWe had a couple of days off on the tour and we went to the house they had together in London. It was madness. They were throwing darts at pictures of their manager and shooting holes in the door with air rifles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Overkill (Official Video) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766587271_57_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Overkill (Official Video) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-MlzTET_8SQg\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/MlzTET_8SQg\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/MlzTET_8SQg\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"829e667a-1b5b-44c6-a918-a012bd928b6e\">Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s classic three-piece line-up became an equally classic four-piece line-up in 1984, when guitarists Phil Campbell and W\u00fcrzel replaced the departed Fast Eddie Clarke. By 1992, Philthy Animal was out and Swedish drummer Mikkey Dee was in. When W\u00fcrzel left in 1995, Mot\u00f6rhead were once more a trio, and would remain so for the next 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cLemmy was so welcoming to me and W\u00fcrz, and so funny. We all moved in together into a house in Kensal Rise, in London. Things got wild there, God knows what the neighbours thought. We were always getting high in the garden. I remember, quite late one night we were sat in the kitchen and we could hear this noise at about 3am. We turn the garden light on and there\u2019s Lem, high on whatever, out in the garden trying to trim weeds in the dark with a pair of scissors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee [Mot\u00f6rhead drummer 1992 onwards]: \u201cThe first time he asked me to join was in 1987, when I was drumming in <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/every-king-diamond-and-mercyful-fate-album-ranked-from-worst-to-best\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/every-king-diamond-and-mercyful-fate-album-ranked-from-worst-to-best\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">King Diamond<\/a>. I respectfully turned him down because I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d earned my stripes. When I joined the band in 1992, he took me aside and said, \u2018Mikkey, good manners cost nothing. And if you walk into a room and there\u2019s an asshole in there, make sure you\u2019re the biggest asshole.\u2019 I\u2019ve lived by that my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:69.93%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/h8VroNiTAVybTECwBBuKUL.jpg\" alt=\"Motorhead Grammys 2005\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/h8VroNiTAVybTECwBBuKUL.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/h8VroNiTAVybTECwBBuKUL.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Carlo Allegri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p id=\"8753d33f-0216-4de3-bca3-c8f705448c0c\">It was during the 80s that Lemmy was enshrined as one of rock\u2019n\u2019roll\u2019s great outlaws whose life centred around alcohol, amphetamine sulphate, women and music.<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Webb [Mot\u00f6rhead producer 2004-2015]: \u201cI first heard Mot\u00f6rhead when I was 14 years old. My brother turned me onto listening to [1986\u2019s] Orgasmatron and [1987\u2019s] Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll: \u2018You\u2019ve gotta listen to these guys \u2013 their singer is the meanest-looking guy, and he gets chicks! He\u2019s so fuckin\u2019 cool!\u2019 I couldn\u2019t understand it! \u2018That guy gets girls?!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cI never saw him get drunk. The speed meant he\u2019d get through a bottle and half of Jack Daniel\u2019s and not even be tipsy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cI only saw him super-drunk once, in all those years. We were on a flight to Argentina and he had a couple of bottles of whiskey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Webb: \u201cWhen we went to record in London one time, we all went out drinking. Lem goes, \u2018I want to take you to my favourite bar.\u2019 We drank there until 6am when the sun was coming up. We\u2019re supposed to be working at noon. It\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, maybe we start at 3 tomorrow?\u2019 We ended up starting at 6, we were all still so wrecked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman [Mot\u00f6rhead manager 1992 onwards]: \u201cHe never got hangovers. You don\u2019t stop drinking, you can\u2019t get a hangover, and he didn\u2019t stop drinking. If I had to wake him up at his apartment, he still had whatever Jack and Coke he had from the night before next to him in a glass. He\u2019d get up and put a couple of ice cubes in it and pick it right up and start right over again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Whorehouse Blues (Official Video) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766587272_918_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Whorehouse Blues (Official Video) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-6fQc57t7VSA\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/6fQc57t7VSA\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/6fQc57t7VSA\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"817cbf4b-002c-4dfb-8d07-173170b7db1b\">But Lemmy the party animal was just one facet of his personality. He was a learned man, though his knowledge was self-taught.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cLemmy was very astute at the English language. I\u2019d try and catch him out, find a big word from somewhere and I\u2019d ask what it means. He\u2019d always be able to explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cThat guy was cerebral. He could talk about everything. I used to trip out that he\u2019d be reading three books at one time. I was like, \u2018Who the fuck does that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cHe never wasted time, he\u2019d be reading, or listening to music, or watching something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cKeep in mind that he\u2019s on speed, too. He can\u2019t keep it inactive. He couldn\u2019t just lay there. He needed stimulation at all time. That\u2019s why he loved gambling on those slot machines, \u2019cos it\u2019s all fast and stimulating. For a speed freak, you can\u2019t get better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:121.68%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/KsGAmd7jeHiibdrEfGHFUC.jpg\" alt=\"Motorhead 1980\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/KsGAmd7jeHiibdrEfGHFUC.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/KsGAmd7jeHiibdrEfGHFUC.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Fin Costello\/Redferns via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p id=\"dcf11c9b-55c3-4966-89b0-fe8e8eedce20\">For all the tales of Lemmy\u2019s wildness, he was a musician first and everything else second. And no one else sounded like he did, sang like he did or wrote songs like he did.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cHe was a rhythm guitarist who played it all on his bass. He never cared much for being a lead player, he liked to do these rock\u2019n\u2019roll bits and just tapped his feet to move with the groove. He wasn\u2019t interested in how people wanted him to play \u2013 he did it his way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cSometimes we\u2019d come out of this Mot\u00f6rhead frame, go in different directions, but whatever Lemmy did with the bass made it into Mot\u00f6rhead. We\u2019d be there, \u2018Ah, we can\u2019t fucking use this one.\u2019 He\u2019d save it and turn it into a smash fucking Mot\u00f6rhead song.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cWe wrote for ourselves \u2013 not for fans, not for the record companies. I remember Lem saying, \u2018Thank god Ace Of Spades was a good song. Imagine if our biggest hit was a turkey?\u2019&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cI remember when I got involved around the time of [1992\u2019s] March Or Die, the label wanted him to do a rap song. Lemmy told him they could all stick it up their ass. He literally told them to fuck off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cOn [1998\u2019s] Snake Bite Love there was a song called Night Side and that\u2019s one we fucking hated but put on the record anyway. Lem and I would laugh about that. We would do interviews about how we wrote what we wanted and threw out the shit we didn\u2019t like. Lem would go, \u2018Hang on Mikkey, we have done one shit song. Damn!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mot\u00f6rhead &#8211; Thunder &amp; Lightning (Bad Magic 2015) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766587274_709_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Mot\u00f6rhead - Thunder &amp; Lightning (Bad Magic 2015) - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-Zh_pk02IOnE\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Zh_pk02IOnE\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Zh_pk02IOnE\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"b718fde9-d33c-488c-b96b-7c3d14718d49\">Lemmy may have been at home in the studio, but he was a road dog at heart. Mot\u00f6rhead played more than 3,000 gigs during their lifetime, never taking more than a few months off at a time.<\/p>\n<p>Biff Byford: \u201cBeing out on the road with him and Mot\u00f6rhead was quite an experience. How he would stay up so late, drinking and doing whatever, and continue to perform at such a high level was something to behold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cIf it was a long journey, we would be there on the back of the bus with Abba or the Bee Gees, trying to sing along with various degrees of success. I imagine that would\u2019ve been hard to listen to, but we definitely had a go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cUS tours would be so long \u2013 we\u2019d play for three or four months in a row. The worst thing would be that he smoked so fucking much. Lemmy would chain smoke in the back lounge and the whole bunk area would fill with smoke. He\u2019d smoke so much you couldn\u2019t see in front of your face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cSometimes, in the middle of the night, you\u2019d hear him start playing the harmonica. He\u2019d just be there, in the back of the bus in the early hours of the morning, blowing away. It could be maddening, but we loved it a little bit, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cAny joke shop we passed in America, Lem could go in and spend a couple thousand dollars on a bunch of junk. Everything from stickers and keychains, funny hats and noses to the fart machines. He redecorated every bus we got on. They\u2019d be covered in stickers and drawings. The bus drivers would think they\u2019d gone to Hell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:60.60%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CgQuUc578XeADTiyLSaufC.jpg\" alt=\"Motorhead live 2015\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CgQuUc578XeADTiyLSaufC.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CgQuUc578XeADTiyLSaufC.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Brill\/ullstein bild via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p id=\"36f42879-3bcd-4188-a8db-12a0a870498f\">Like many intelligent, articulate people, Lemmy was a complex man. He could be friendly or frosty, kind or rude, depending on his mood and what substances he had taken. But he had a particularly low tolerance for fools.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cHe was always very polite to people. He couldn\u2019t stand rudeness. He was a gentleman 99% of the time, until something pissed him off and then he\u2019d fight for his rights. You could only push him so far. He couldn\u2019t stand to be surrounded by idiots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cDid I see him upset? He was upset on a daily basis. He was a fucking alcoholic speed freak! He was upset all day!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cI remember going to [prestigious LA recording facility] A&amp;M studios. Howard Benson was producing and me, Lem and Mikkey ended up arguing about something. Howard said, \u2018I can settle this for you now, I\u2019ve been recording the last 20 minutes.\u2019 It turns out Lem was wrong. He was eating this cheeseburger, and he suddenly rammed it into the mixing desk, getting all this cheese and lettuce gummed up into this $2,000,000 desk. Poor Howard, he had to call out and say, \u2018Can we get a repair man? Lemmy from Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s just trashed our desk with a cheeseburger.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cSometimes he was a little fuckin\u2019 girl, if he was screaming at us about nothing. But we would scream right back! We had great arguments, in such a friendly way. Like a family should have. There was never any pissing or moaning \u2013 there was never trash talk behind anyone\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cHe never took things home with him. You could have an argument with him &#8211; \u2018Fuck you!\u2019 \u2018No, fuck you!\u2019 \u2013 but he would never bear a grudge the next day. If you had a fight with Lemmy, the next day it would be wiped clean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Webb: \u201cThe first record I did with them was [2004\u2019s] Inferno. It was a hard record \u2013 Lemmy and I fought a lot. By the end of it, I was exhausted. Late nights, early mornings\u2026 Yelling, fighting, drugs, alcohol\u2026 everything always went on. At the very end, Lemmy took me to his house and gave me a sword. I actually have it at my studio now. We got to his house and he said, \u2018Cameron, I fucking love this record. I\u2019m so proud of it, it\u2019s one of my favourites. So I want to give you this gift and hire you for the next record.\u2019 I thought he hated my guts!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"2044e943-5473-4445-96c3-f3ffcf83774e\">Lemmy may have liked people \u2013 or at least liked some people \u2013 but he had no time for the music industry. He had been burned over and over again at the hands of labels ever since the start of Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s career.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cPromoters lying to us made him angry. He took off a metal door once. He was wild about some promoter, I can\u2019t remember what it was over, but he just took this big metal door off its hinges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cLemmy didn\u2019t trust anybody. Those were lessons he learned. Everybody had fucked him over eventually. He thought that other people should have no say over what he did: \u2018This is my music, not yours, fuck you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cHe demanded our prices always be in the range of the working man, so everyone could hopefully afford to see us. I know we couldn\u2019t put huge amounts on those tickets anyway \u2013 we\u2019re not U2 or Madonna \u2013 but he was insistent about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cHe took care of people. He was extremely concerned about taking care of our crew. We could argue about that. He would spend a fortune on getting the crew comfortable, five-star hotels and travelling well. It was super-kind, but our budget couldn\u2019t always afford that. We\u2019d argue and he\u2019d say, \u2018Mikkey, you only think about money.\u2019 But it was like, \u2018If we do this, we\u2019ll be on our ass.\u2019 His kindness could turn into stupidity at times!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cEveryone else was in it for the money and the rest of it, they\u2019re trying to get the most they can. Mot\u00f6rhead didn\u2019t go that route. We never made a lot of money compared to others. It had to do with the fact he wouldn\u2019t let the ticket price be too high. He said, \u2018If a working man can\u2019t afford to come to my show, then I\u2019m doing something wrong.\u2019 It wasn\u2019t about money. It was never about money.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:70.57%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yEiSrYA93SKEhTQsMFwcMA.jpg\" alt=\"Lemmy 2001\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yEiSrYA93SKEhTQsMFwcMA.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yEiSrYA93SKEhTQsMFwcMA.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: Jo Hale\/Redferns via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p id=\"6b587c67-6f09-4fda-8534-49940a9c00fa\">Lemmy may have given the impression of being immortal, but he wasn\u2019t. He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the early 2000s &#8211; the first of a series of health issues that would continue to plague him over the next decade and a half. Not that he let that change him.<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cWhat started all of this problem was the diabetes. That\u2019s when we had to try to get him off booze. That was never going to happen. His compromise was vodka and orange juice. Orange juice is all sugar, but in his mind it was cleaner. Doctors used to tell me, \u2018He needs more water, more hydration.\u2019 So the fucker, in front of my face, put two more ice cubes in his drink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Webb: \u201cWhen we started [2013\u2019s] Aftershock, Lemmy told us he was going to need to get a pacemaker put in after he finished recording. He\u2019d seen a doctor, but he wanted to do a record first. We did 10 songs\u2019 worth of pre-production, but I felt like five of those were not good at all.<\/p>\n<p>We decided to take a break \u2013 he\u2019d get his pacemaker put in, and come back to do the remaining five songs with more ideas. So Lemmy goes away and sees his doctor, and the doctor is like, \u2018Holy shit! If you\u2019d waited another week, you\u2019d have died. We need to put this in today.\u2019 It was supposed to be a one-day process originally, but he ended up in hospital for, like, two weeks \u2013 he\u2019d almost died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cI said, \u2018Lemmy, you gotta start eating more vegetables.\u2019 So he had sour cream and onion potato chips. In his mind, those were the vegetables.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dave Brock: \u201cWe did have that difficult conversation about slowing down. I sent him a text saying: \u2018A live legend, a dead hero.\u2019 Flying around the world and the stress of playing concerts isn\u2019t good for your body, but I don\u2019t think he paid it too much attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"cf514a48-fe93-4a8e-b327-483328d796a6\">In 2015, Mot\u00f6rhead marked 40 years since their formation with their 23rd studio album, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/reviews\/motorhead-bad-magic-1\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/reviews\/motorhead-bad-magic-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bad Magic<\/a>. But it was a tough year. Some shows on the subsequent tour were cancelled due to Lemmy\u2019s health issues, and the death of former bandmate Philthy Animal Taylor in November 2015 hit him harder than anyone realised.<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cBefore that tour, I said to Lem, \u2018Look, let\u2019s just cancel or postpone it.\u2019 Phil and I agreed, we couldn\u2019t really do it, but he insisted. We decided we wouldn\u2019t argue with him anymore, we\u2019d help him do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cHe had good days and bad days, but whenever we said, \u2018Lem, maybe we should take a break\u2019, he refused. He wanted to just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biff Byford: \u201c<a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/saxon-best-albums\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.loudersound.com\/features\/saxon-best-albums\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Saxon<\/a> supported Mot\u00f6rhead on their last tour of North America, and he hated cancelling or aborting shows. It tore him up inside. When he was unable to finish a show, he would go back out and apologise from the stage. It was brave of him to explain why he couldn\u2019t carry on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cPhilthy\u2019s death [on November 12, 2015] hit him very hard. He changed that day. When he started getting weaker and weaker, we thought it was because Philthy had died and he was bummed. We stopped beating him up, stopped trying to get him to do things. None of us knew what was really wrong with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cNobody realised Berlin [at the MaxSchmeling-Halle on December 11, 2015] was going to be the last show. It was the usual \u2013 \u2018Good gig.\u2019 We had a big hug after the gig \u2013 \u2018Nice one, Lem. See you in a bit.\u2019 But I didn\u2019t see him after. I never got to say goodbye properly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cAll of us thought we\u2019d get home and patch him up a little and get him some rest. He had a party for his 70th birthday, and Lars Ulrich and lots of other people came down for it. He could barely recognise these guys. We took him to the doctor\u2019s the next day, and that\u2019s when they started finding all this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:65.79%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WfmU7FdQCjyQP8B3fQaciT.jpg\" alt=\"Motorhead 1979\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WfmU7FdQCjyQP8B3fQaciT.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WfmU7FdQCjyQP8B3fQaciT.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>(Image credit: \u00a0Estate Of Keith Morris\/Redferns via Getty)<\/p>\n<p id=\"97b2edae-ea80-4197-b74a-86d07c4f6341\">All this stuff\u2019 was actually cancer. Lemmy\u2019s doctor gave him a prognosis of two to six months to live. A videogame was brought to his apartment from the Rainbow, his favourite Los Angeles hangout. On December 28, just a couple of days after receiving the news and four days after his 70th birthday, Lemmy fell asleep while playing the videogame. He never woke up again.<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cHow did he face death? Like a champ. When the doctor was at the house and told us [he had cancer], I cried right there. I couldn\u2019t help it. And Lemmy was the one who fucking consoled me!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biff Byford: \u201cI believe that he wanted to kick the bucket on the road, but he won\u2019t have been too disappointed by the way things panned out. Playing a fucking videogame. He died as he lived. It was quick, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cLiterally his whole goal was to drop at the last show of the last gig of the last tour. He missed it by two weeks. Same with Ozzy. They both died exactly 17 days after their last show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lemmy\u2019s memorial service was held on January 9, 2016, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Among those in attendance were members of Metallica, Guns N\u2019 Roses, Foo Fighters, Judas Priest and Anthrax, as well as Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cI used to manage Marlon Brando, and Lemmy\u2019s funeral was exactly the same as his. They all said, \u2018If it wasn\u2019t for Marlon, I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u2019 They said the same thing about Lemmy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cSomething had burst in me and I was hospitalised. My doctor said I wasn\u2019t allowed to fly to LA for the funeral. My friend Miko Brando \u2013 Marlon Brando\u2019s son \u2013 owns a flower shop in Los Angeles. I asked them to do this flower display so it was a big mirror and a line of speed, made out of flowers. I was gutted I couldn\u2019t be there, but I made sure to send him one last line of speed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cWhen he turned 50, Metallica put on a party for him [at Sunset Strip club the Whisky A Go Go, where James Hetfield co performed Mot\u00f6rhead covers as The Lemmys while all dressed as the man himself]. He said to me then, \u2018If I die tomorrow, I\u2019ve had the perfect life.\u2019 And he got another 20 years after that!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mot\u00f6rhead &#8220;Heroes&#8221; (David Bowie Cover) &#8211; YouTube<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766587276_140_maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Mot\u00f6rhead \" heroes=\"\" bowie=\"\" cover=\"\" youtube=\"\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-J06yQb4lbPk\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/J06yQb4lbPk\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/J06yQb4lbPk\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"c0aeff06-38f2-4d1e-8954-c2dbf35f5e08\">Lemmy would have turned 80 on December 24, 2025. Physically, he\u2019s not here anymore, but his imprint remains on music, culture and anyone who ever listened to a Mot\u00f6rhead album.<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cIn interviews people would say, \u2018It\u2019s such a tragedy.\u2019 I\u2019d say, \u2018It\u2019s not a tragedy. It\u2019s sad, but look at it this way: Lemmy lived 70 years on his premise, his way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cWhat would he be doing if he was still here? Same thing he always did: we\u2019d be playing in Mot\u00f6rhead. We never talked about the end, we always talked about the next album, the next tour, the next gig, the next song. We\u2019d still be blasting away, like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Webb: \u201cHe\u2019d be writing music and telling stories. Or he\u2019d be recording. That\u2019s what he loved. If I asked him about taking a day off, he\u2019d say, \u2018I\u2019m fucking bored! What am I gonna do, watch a fucking movie?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mikkey Dee: \u201cI consider Lemmy my father, my grandpa, my younger brother, my bigger brother\u2026 my younger sister sometimes! He was the whole scale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biff Byford: \u201cLemmy Kilmister was a good man. He was the ultimate road warrior, the Mad Max of rock\u2019n\u2019roll. With Lemmy what you saw was what you got.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd Singerman: \u201cHe lived sex, drugs and rock\u2019n\u2019roll. Everybody fantasises about it, but he lived it, to the very fucking end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Campbell: \u201cThere was nobody like him before, and won\u2019t be ever again. People loved him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Fraser Kilmister didn\u2019t just live rock\u2019n\u2019roll, he was rock\u2019n\u2019roll. For 40 years, this roaring warlord led Mot\u00f6rhead&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-366103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}