{"id":339440,"date":"2025-12-28T15:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T15:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/339440\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T15:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T15:24:12","slug":"can-motorheads-lemmy-kilmister-save-hometown-burslem-from-beyond-the-grave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/339440\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Mot\u00f6rhead’s Lemmy Kilmister save hometown Burslem from beyond the grave?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex McIntyreWest Midlands<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

Lemmy Kilmister was born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1945<\/p>\n

Back in May, the statue of Ian Fraser Kilmister \u2013 better known as Lemmy, the frontman and founder of Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 was unveiled in his hometown of Burslem.<\/p>\n

The ceremony happened in front of thousands of fans, all packed into Market Place as the life-sized, bronze-cast sculpture was uncovered.<\/p>\n

For many, it marked a high point for the town \u2013 one of the six that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent \u2013 after decades of struggle.<\/p>\n

“It’s got to be the biggest thing that’s happened to Burslem for as long as I can remember,” said Jon Plant, founder of local firm Moorland Pottery.<\/p>\n

The so-called “mother town” of Stoke-on-Trent long had ceramics at the heart of its economy, being home to the likes of Josiah Wedgwood and William Moorcroft.<\/p>\n

But the sector has been in decline since the latter part of the 20th Century, and the town has long been feeling the effects.<\/p>\n

This has been evidenced by the degrading state of some of its most historic buildings, like the Queen’s Theatre, the fire-hit Leopard pub and the Wedgwood Institute.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The statue of Lemmy Kilmister was unveiled in Burslem in May<\/p>\n

The town centre was recently deemed to be “at risk”<\/a> by Historic England due to many of those buildings being affected by “neglect, decay or inappropriate development”.<\/p>\n

Mr Plant said the town had suffered like many others but believed it to be “one of the worst” examples of decline in the UK.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been here 38 years and in all that period of working in Burslem, all the town has done is go down, down and down,” he added.<\/p>\n

But he said there was now hope on the horizon, potentially in the form of the town’s homegrown heavy metal hero, a decade on from his death in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"Jon<\/p>\n

Jon Plant founded Moorland Pottery in Burslem 38 years ago<\/p>\n

Lemmy’s legacy was undeniable \u2013 Mot\u00f6rhead released 22 studio albums, composed hundreds of songs, like their defining anthem Ace of Spades, and won multiple awards, including a Grammy.<\/p>\n

Such was his career, Lemmy was often credited by his contemporaries, including the late Ozzy Osbourne, with helping to pioneer the heavy metal genre.<\/p>\n

His popularity was clear from the turnout for the statue’s unveiling<\/a> \u2013 its sculptor, local artist Andy Edwards, said they counted approximately 3,000 people.<\/p>\n

Asked what he felt when looking back at the event, he said: “All the obvious things \u2013 excitement, personal pleasure – but I felt a great sense of affirmation, seeing people still wanted to be with each other to experience things at the same time.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Andy Edwards said he felt a “great sense of affirmation” at the statue unveiling<\/p>\n

Vicky Hungerford, director of Bloodstock Festival in Derbyshire, knew Lemmy well and met her husband Alan when he was the Mot\u00f6rhead singer’s personal assistant.<\/p>\n

She said the atmosphere at the statue’s unveiling was “incredible”, adding that it had “put Burslem on the map” for those who did not know about the town.<\/p>\n

“I think Lemmy would have been very humbled,” she said. “He would probably say everyone was making an unnecessary fuss but he would have absolutely loved it.”<\/p>\n

The statue has been visited by people from all over the world, including a German couple who went to see it as part of their 40th wedding anniversary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Its unveiling was followed up in August with a festival in the town centre<\/a> to celebrate Lemmy’s legacy.<\/p>\n

\"VickyVicky Hungerford<\/p>\n

Bloodstock Festival director Vicky Hungerford said Lemmy would have been “humbled” by the statue unveiling<\/p>\n

There are also plans to regenerate the vacant Queen’s Theatre into a 900-seat venue, cafe, museum and music studio called Kilmister Halls.<\/p>\n

The proposal recently took a step forward<\/a> after a memorandum of understanding was signed by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and project lead the IFK Legacy Community Interest Company.<\/p>\n

The response to the statue and the various projects has created a renewed sense of optimism in Burslem, including from Mr Plant.<\/p>\n

While he remained an advocate for Burslem’s ceramics heritage, he said the town could not rely on it for its regeneration and needed to get behind initiatives like so-called “Burslemmy”.<\/p>\n

“It gives me real hope for the future,” he added. “It’s a perfect recipe for success.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The vacant Queen’s Theatre in Burslem could be turned into a venue dedicated to Lemmy’s memory<\/p>\n

Mr Edwards said Burslem had “taken a kicking” over the years but had the potential to become the “cultural capital” of Stoke-on-Trent. <\/p>\n

He said the Kilmister Halls development was “vital” in realising that vision.<\/p>\n

“Burslem is very culturally rich and I think it’s going to have its day again,” he added.<\/p>\n

\"ReutersReuters<\/p>\n

Lemmy Kilmister died in December 2015 after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer<\/p>\n

If Kilmister Halls came to fruition, it would be “huge” for both Burslem and the metal community, potentially attracting people from all over the world, Mrs Hungerford said.<\/p>\n

“Lemmy is a worldwide icon for heavy metal, as anyone in metal and rock will know,” she said. “It’s a huge thing for Burslem and it’s a huge thing for the metal world.”<\/p>\n

She added: “He was very proud of where he was brought up, where he lived, where he was born. He talked about it a lot. He was very proud of his Staffordshire roots.<\/p>\n

“Nobody will ever forget Lemmy. He will be talked about in another 100 years from now. We will always keep raising the flag or, should I say, raising the horns for him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex McIntyreWest Midlands PA Media Lemmy Kilmister was born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1945 Back in May, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-339440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}