Lemmy of Motörhead passed away
Listen to this articleIan “Lemmy” Kilmister, bass player and front man for the iconic metal band, Motörhead, died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, after a short battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.
He was born on December 24, 1945, in Staffordshire, England and became interested in music as a teenager. By the time of his death Motörhead had become one of the major influences for punk and the heavier end of heavy metal in the 1980’s, inspiring a long list of metal, punk and grunge bands that followed.
He was inspired by Buddy Holly and then the Beatles and got his start in rock and roll when he became a roadie for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. He then met Mik Dik of Hawkwind and became the bass player — without ever having touched a bass in his life.
He was fired from Hawkwind in 1975, after getting busted in Canada for drugs. That was when he formed Motörhead with Larry Wallis and Lucas Fox. The band has had several personnel changes since, with the current band being Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee.
Tributes and condolences from around the rock and roll world can be found with the #Lemmy hashtag on Twitter as well as the tribute page on Facebook set up by the band.
On their Facebook page, Motörhead posted this message:
There is no easy way to say this … our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favorite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made its way down the street, with his family.
We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.
We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please…play Motörhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD. Have a drink or few.
Share stories.
Celebrate the LIFE this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself.
HE WOULD WANT EXACTLY THAT.
Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister
1945 -2015
Born to lose, lived to win.
Please feel free to post your condolences, well wishes and memories on our official tribute page:
https://www.facebook.com/lemmykilmisterforlife
#Lemmy Kilmister: December 24, 1945 — December 28, 2015.
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