Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who founded and fronted the rock band Motörhead. His music was a distinctive part of the heavy metal genre.
Lemmy was born in Stoke-on-Trent and grew up in North Wales. He was influenced by rock and roll and the early Beatles, which led to him playing in several rock groups in the 1960s, most significantly the Rockin’ Vickers. He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and The Nice, before joining the space rock band Hawkwind in 1971, singing lead on their hit “Silver Machine”. After being fired from Hawkwind, he founded Motörhead as lead singer, bassist, songwriter and frontman. Motörhead’s success peaked in 1980 and 1981 and included the hit single “Ace of Spades”. Lemmy continued to record and tour regularly with Motörhead until his death in December 2015.
Aside from his musical skills, Lemmy was well known for his hard living lifestyle and regular consumption of alcohol and amphetamines. He was also known for his appearance, including his friendly mutton chops, prominent facial moles, and gravelly voice. Lemmy was also noted for his collection of Nazi memorabilia, although he did not support Nazi ideals. He made several cameo appearances in film and television.
. . . . . . . . . .
Lemmy was born on Christmas Eve in the Burslem area of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Later, he attended Sir Thomas Jones’ School in Amlwch, where he was nicknamed Lemmy, although he was unsure why; it would later be claimed that the name originated from the phrase “lemmy [lend me] a quid till Friday” because of his habit of borrowing money from people to feed his addiction to slot machines.
. . . . . . . . . .
At the age of 17, he met a holidaying girl called Cathy. He followed her to Stockport, where she eventually had his son Sean, who was put up for adoption. In the 2010 documentary film Lemmy, Lemmy mentions having a son whose mother has only recently “found him” and “hadn’t got the heart to tell him who his father was”…
. . . . . . . . . .
In Stockport, Lemmy joined local bands The Rainmakers and then The Motown Sect who enjoyed playing northern clubs for three years. Wanting to progress further, in 1965 he joined The Rockin’ Vickers who signed a deal with CBS, released three singles and toured Europe, reportedly being the first British band to visit the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Rockin’ Vickers moved to Manchester, where they lived together in a flat. There Lemmy got involved with a girl named Tracy who bore him a son, Paul. Lemmy did not have any involvement with him until the boy was six.
Leaving the Rockin’ Vickers, Lemmy relocated to London in 1967. He shared a flat with Noel Redding, bassist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and with Neville Chesters, their manager. He got a job as a roadie for the band. In 1968 he joined the psychedelic rock band Sam Gopal and recorded with them for the album Escalator and the single “Horse”.
. . . . . . . . . .
In August 1971, Lemmy joined the space rock band Hawkwind, who were based in Ladbroke Grove, London, as a bassist and vocalist. He had no previous experience as a bass guitarist, and was cajoled into joining immediately before a benefit gig in Notting Hill by bandmate Dik Mik in order to have two members who enjoyed amphetamines. He quickly developed a distinctive style that was strongly shaped by his early experience as a rhythm guitarist, often using double stops and chords rather than the single note lines preferred by most bassists. His bass work was a fundamental part of the Hawkwind sound during his tenure, perhaps best documented on Space Ritual. He also provided the lead vocals on several songs, including the band’s biggest UK chart single, “Silver Machine”, which reached No. 3 in 1972.
In 1975 Lemmy was arrested at the Canadian/US border in Windsor, Ontario, on drug possession charges; he spent five days in jail. Lemmy was released without charge since Windsor Police had arrested him for possession of cocaine, but after testing the drug was revealled to be speed. According to Canadian law at the time, he could not be charged and was released with no charge or conviction. Nonetheless, he was fired from Hawkwind.
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’s connection with Took (formerly of T. Rex) was not limited to Wallis, as they were personal friends and Took was the stepfather to Lemmy’s son, Paul. When his manager informed him that a band by the name of “Bastard” would never get a slot on Top of the Pops, Lemmy changed the band’s name to “Motörhead” – the title of the last song he had written for Hawkwind.
. . . . . . . . . .
Lemmy’s last live performance was in Berlin on 11 December 2015.
He wrote the song “R.A.M.O.N.E.S” for the Ramones, which he played in his live sets as a tribute to the band. He was brought in as a songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne’s 1991 No More Tears album, providing lyrics for the tracks “Hellraiser,” (which Motörhead later recorded themselves and released as a single), “Desire,” “I Don’t Want to Change the World” and the single “Mama I’m Coming Home.” Lemmy has noted in several magazine and television interviews that he made more money from the royalties of that one song than he had in his entire time with Motörhead. After being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2000, for which he was hospitalized briefly, Lemmy again appeared with Motörhead at WrestleMania X-Seven. Lemmy published his autobiography, White Line Fever in November 2002. In 2005, Motörhead won their first Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category with their cover of Metallica’s “Whiplash.” In the same year, he began recording an unreleased solo album titled Lemmy & Friends, which was intended to include a collaboration with Janet Jackson.
. . . . . . . . . .
Lemmy made appearances in film and television, including the 1990 science fiction film Hardware and the 1987 comedy Eat the Rich, for which Motörhead also recorded the soundtracks including the title song. In the 1980s Motörhead were the musical guests on the cult British TV show “The Young Ones”, episode titled “Bambi”. In the 1994 comedy Airheads (in which he is credited as “Lemmy von Motörhead”), one scene involving Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, and Steve Buscemi, has Brendan Fraser’s character, “Chazz” Chester Darvey talking to an undercover cop who is pretending to be a record executive—Chazz asks him, “Who’d win in a wrestling match, Lemmy or God?”, the cop replies, “Lemmy”, to which Rex, played by Steve Buscemi, imitates a game show buzzer and the cop quickly changes his answer to “… God!”. Rex replies saying, “Wrong, dickhead, trick question. Lemmy is God”. Lemmy appears in the film and shouts out (truthfully) that he edited his school magazine as other people in the crowd admit geeky pastimes in their youth.
. . . . . . . . . .
The rockumentary film Lemmy was directed and produced by Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski. It consists of a combination of 16 mm film and HD video footage, produced over three years. It features interviews with friends, peers, and admirers such as Dave Grohl, Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo of Metallica, David Ellefson of Megadeth, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Alice Cooper, Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order, Dee Snider, Nikki Sixx, Mick Jones of The Clash, Ice-T, Kat Von D, Henry Rollins, Lars Frederiksen of Rancid, Jim Heath of The Reverend Horton Heat, Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, Mike Inez, Joan Jett, pro skateboarder Geoff Rowley, pro wrestler Triple H, “Fast” Eddie Clarke, Jarvis Cocker, Marky Ramone, former Hawkwind bandmates Dave Brock and Stacia, and Steve Vai.
. . . . . . . . . .
Lemmy was well known for his intake of alcohol. The documentary Live Fast Die Old stated that he drank a bottle of Jack Daniel’s every day and had done so since he was 30 years old. In 2013, Lemmy stopped drinking Jack Daniel’s for health reasons.
During his time with Hawkwind, he developed an appetite for amphetamines and LSD, particularly the former. Before joining Hawkwind, he recalled Dik Mik, a former Hawkwind sound technician, visiting his squat in the middle of the night and taking speed with him. They became interested in how long “you could make the human body jump about without stopping,” which they did for a few months, until Mik ran out of money and wanted to return to Hawkwind, taking Lemmy with him.
. . . . . . . . . .
In November 2005, he was invited to the National Assembly for Wales as a guest speaker by Tory member William Graham. He was asked to express his views on the detrimental effects of drugs, and called for the legalization of heroin: “I have never had heroin, but since I moved to London from North Wales in ’67 I have mixed with junkies on a casual and almost daily basis,” he said. “I also lived with a young woman who tried heroin just to see what it was like. It killed her three years later. I hate the idea even as I say it, but I do believe the only way to treat heroin is to legalize it.” He stated that legalization would eradicate the drug dealer from society.
. . . . . . . . . .
Lemmy collected German military regalia, and had an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, which led to accusations of Nazi sympathies. He stated that he collected the memorabilia because he liked the way it looked, and considered himself an anarchist or libertarian. Lemmy was against religion, government and established authority. Jeff Hanneman, the founder of the thrash metal band Slayer, befriended Lemmy due to their shared fondness for collecting Nazi memorabilia. According to Keith Emerson’s autobiography, two of Lemmy’s Hitler Youth knives were given to Emerson by Lemmy during his time as a roadie for The Nice. Emerson used these knives many times as keyholders when playing the Hammond organ during concerts with The Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer before destroying them. Lemmy defended his collection by saying that if his black girlfriend had no problem with it, nobody else should.
From 1990 Lemmy lived in Los Angeles, California, most recently in a two-room apartment two blocks away from his favorite hangout, the Rainbow Bar and Grill.
As he grew older he cut down on drink and drugs as he suffered from diabetes and hypertension. In 2013 he had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator fitted. He referred to his continuing drug use as “Dogged insolence in the face of mounting opposition to the contrary”.
On 28 December 2015, four days after his 70th birthday, Lemmy died at his home in Los Angeles at 16:00 PST, from an “extremely aggressive cancer”. Motörhead announced his death on their official Facebook page later that day. According to the band, his cancer had only been diagnosed two days prior to his death.
On learning of Lemmy’s death, Alice Cooper said “He was innovative, true to his art and continually relevant even though he never cared about being relevant. … He was always creating and redefining hard rock and the role of bass within it. Offstage, he was a gem. I can’t think of anyone who didn’t adore Lemmy. He was such an original character in rock, and I will truly miss seeing him out on the road.” Metallica posted a note on Facebook, saying, “Lemmy, you are one of the primary reasons this band exists. We are forever grateful for all of your inspiration. Rest In Peace.”
. . . . . . . . . .
In his 2002 autobiography White Line Fever, Lemmy had written:
“People don’t become better when they’re dead; you just talk about them as if they are, but it’s not true! People are still a–holes, they’re just dead a–holes! … I didn’t have a really important life, but at least it’s been funny.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemmy
* * * * *
WILLIAM GUEST OF GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS DIES
William Franklin Guest (July 2, 1941 – December 24, 2015) was an American R&B/soul singer, best known as a member of Gladys Knight & the Pips. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, he was Gladys Knight’s cousin. Guest, along with the group, was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
Following his stint with The Pips, he and fellow Pip Edward Patten formed Patten and Guest Productions, and following Patten’s death in 2005, he continued to manage artists though the Crew Entertainment company he formed with members of Patten’s family.
Guest died on December 24, 2015 of congestive heart failure in Detroit, Michigan, his home for fifty years. He was 74 years old.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Guest_(singer)
* * * * *
Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
December 2015
28: John Bradbury, 62, English drummer (The Specials); Guru Josh, 51, Jersey musician; Joe Houston, 89, American jazz and R&B saxophonist; Lemmy Kilmister, 70, English rock musician (Motörhead, Hawkwind), cancer.
27: Andy M. Stewart, 63, Scottish folk singer (Silly Wizard); Stevie Wright, 68, English-born Australian singer (The Easybeats).
26: Tore Andersen, 55, Norwegian country musician.
25: Manuel Agujetas, 76, Spanish flamenco singer; Elvin Ordubadli, 26, Azerbaijani singer (Türkvizyon 2014), suicide by jumping; Geraldo Roca (pt), 61, Brazilian singer, gunshot.
24: William Guest, 74, American R&B singer (Gladys Knight & the Pips), heart failure; Ove Johansson, 79, Swedish jazz saxophonist; Takeharu Kunimoto, 55, Japanese musician, acute respiratory failure.
23: Zemya Hamilton, 50, Swedish singer, multiple sclerosis.
22: Peter Lundblad, 65, Swedish singer (“Ta mig till havet”), prostate cancer.