{"id":475290,"date":"2026-03-14T13:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/475290\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T13:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:34:13","slug":"motorhead-guitarist-phil-campbell-dead-at-64-his-legacy-music-and-the-memories-he-created-with-so-many-will-live-on-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/475290\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell dead at 64: \u201cHis legacy, music and the memories he created with so many will live on forever\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Mot\u00f6rhead<\/a> guitarist Phil Campbell<\/a> has died at the age of 64.<\/p>\n

His death was announced via a statement from Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons<\/a>, the band also featuring his sons Todd, Dane andTyla Campbell.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The statement reads: \u201cIt is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Philip Anthony Campbell, who passed away peacefully last night following a long and courageous battle in intensive care after a complex major operation.<\/p>\n

Phil was a devoted husband, a wonderful father, and a proud and loving grandfather, known affectionately as \u201cBampi.\u201d He was deeply loved by all who knew him and will be missed immensely. His legacy, music and the memories he created with so many will live on forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kindly ask that our family\u2019s privacy is respected during this incredibly difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

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Campbell, who was born in Pontypridd, Wales, in 1961, was the guitarist in Mot\u00f6rhead from 1984 to their demise in 2015, following the death of frontman Lemmy,<\/p>\n

Campbell was Influenced by guitarists such as Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix when he was starting out. At the age of 12, he saw Hawkwind with Lemmy on bass and vocals, later recalling asking his future bandmate for his autograph.<\/p>\n

He joined his first band, Contrast, at the age of 13, and later played in another local band, Rocktopus. In 1979, he co-founded NWOBHM band Persian Risk in 1979, playing on two singles, 1981\u2019s Calling for You and 1982\u2019s Ridin\u2019 High.<\/p>\n

In 1984, following the departure of M\u00f6t\u00f6rhead guitarist Brian Robertson, Campnell auditioned for the band alongside fellow six-stringer Michael \u2018W\u00fcrzel\u2019 Burston. Lemmy later claimed he could decide between the pair, so he hired them both. The pair made their debut on 1984 compilation No Remorse, co-writing and playing on four new songs.<\/p>\n

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Campbell made his full studio debut on Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s 1986 album Orgasmatron. He would go on to play on 16 album with the band, up to 2015\u2019s Bad Magic. After the departure of W\u00fcrzel in 1995, he was the band\u2019s sole guitarist.<\/p>\n

After Mot\u00f6rhead disbanded following Lemmy\u2019s passing in December 2015, Campbell formed Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, going on to release an EP and four albums, the most recent of which was 2023\u2019s Kings Of The Abyss. He also released a solo album, Old Lions Still Roar, in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor about four months [after Mot\u00f6rhead broke up] I didn\u2019t know what to do. I was so exhausted I considered retiring completely,\u201d Campbell told Classic Rock in 2023. \u201cBut my eldest boy, Todd, had a thirtieth birthday party in Cardiff, there was a live band we got up and jammed some covers, and it felt so good we carried on. In fact the party was two years before Lem passed away, but it was the start of the Bastard Sons.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2026, the Bastard Sons cancelled a tour of Australia \u201cdue to medical advice Phil has just received\u201d., adding: \u201cWe sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this is likely to cause our fans, but Phil’s health will always be our number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doro Pesch paid tribute to the guitarist on Instagram, writing: \u201cI’m at a loss for words. This is so sad… Phil, it was an honor to call you a friend. We will never forget you! Rest in peace!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Killed By Death (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"Mot\u00f6rhead<\/p>\n

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Mot\u00f6rhead \u2013 Life\u2019s A Bitch (Official Video) – YouTube
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PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS – Strike The Match (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) – YouTube
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PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS – Hammer And Dance (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) – YouTube
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Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons – Overkill (Mot\u00f6rhead Cover) – Live at Wacken Open Air 2022 – YouTube
\n\"Phil<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Mot\u00f6rhead guitarist Phil Campbell has died at the age of 64. His death was announced via a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-475290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475290","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=475290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}