Formed: 1975
From:
London,
United Kingdom
Last Known Status: Active
Background
Lemmy spent the sixties in a number of small-time bands including Opal Butterfly, Sam Gopal, and The Rockin' Vickers as well as working as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix in 1967 for about six months, and as a roadie for The Nice. In 1971 he joined archetypal space rock UK Underground outfit Hawkwind who were centred around the very in Ladbroke Grove. His distinctive style of bass playing, involving the use of chords rather than the single notes preferred by most players, was a fundamental part of the Hawkwind sound during his tenure. He also provided lead vocals on a number of songs including the band's biggest UK chart single, Silver Machine, which reached No.3 in 1972.
By 1975 Lemmy's forceful personality and propensity for ingesting copious quantities of amphetamines were leading to conflict with other members, and this culminated with his sacking after being arrested for drug possession while on tour with the band in Canada. Lemmy went on to form a new band with guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Wallis's former bands included the Pink Fairies, Steve Took's Shagrat and UFO. Lemmy's connection with Took (formerly of T Rex) was not limited to Wallis, as they were personal friends and Took was the step-father to Lemmy's son Paul. This new band was originally called Bastard. However, after the band's manager pointed out this name would lose them TV and radio exposure, it was changed to Motörhead - the last song Lemmy wrote for Hawkwind.
After a short period both Wallis and Fox were replaced with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, and with this line-up the band began to achieve success. The uncompromisingly intense nature of their sound appealed to both Lemmy's original metal/rock constituency as well as the new punk fans — intrigued, perhaps, by Lemmy's brief stint in The Damned — and Lemmy's guttural vocals were unique in the world of rock at that time. The band's success peaked between 1980 and 1981 with a number of UK chart hits, including the classic single Ace of Spades (still a crowd favourite today) and the No. 1 Live Album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith . Motörhead have since gone on to become one of the most influential bands on the heavy metal scene and, although Lemmy is the only constant in a changing line-up, are still performing and releasing records to this day. Despite Motorhead's many member changes over their 30 year history the current lineup of Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee has remained constant since 1995.
Lemmy has also worked with a number of other musicians over his career, and occasionally guests with Hawkwind. He was brought in as a songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's 1991 No More Tears album, providing lyrics for the tracks "Hellraiser," (which Motorhead later released) "Desire," "I Don't Want To Change The World," and the massive hit "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 Motorhead.
He has made a number of 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. In the 1994 comedy Airheads (in which he is credited as "Lemmy von Motorhead"), he shouts (truthfully) about being the editor of his high school newspaper. He has also appeared in several movies from the Troma studio. Having a predilection for self-deprecating parody, he once appeared in an advertisement for Kit Kat chocolate bars, miming a piece of chamber music on the violin, in an upper-class tea-room. Motörhead performed the entrance theme song "The Game" for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Triple H, as well as "Line in the Sand" for his now defunct wrestling stable, Evolution. In 2006, they once again provided theme music for the WWE as they recorded the song King of Kings for Triple H on the Wreckless Intent CD.
Lemmy collects Nazi memorabilia, and has an Iron Cross encrusted on his bass, which has led to accusations of right-wing extremist tendencies; however, Lemmy considers himself to be an anarchist. According to Keith Emerson as written in his autobiography, two of Lemmy's Hitlerjugend knives were gifted to Keith Emerson himself during Lemmy's time spent as a roadie for The Nice. Emerson used these knives many times as "keyholders" during his famous wrestling sessions with the Hammond Organ during the shows with The Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
He published his autobiography, White Line Fever in November 2002.
Latest Motorhead News
Below is our complete Motorhead news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
Displaying records 361 - 380 of 383 1 2 ... 17 18 19 20 Last
Motorhead To Play 30th Anniversary Gig
Motorhead are to play a special 30th annversary show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on June 16.
"Armageddon Over Wacken Live 2004" Details
Armageddon Music have announced a March 21 release date for the "Armageddon Over Wacken Live 2004" 3-CD set. The package will feature more than 220 minutes and 38 bands, along with liner notes, photos and information about the annual German metal festival. Here is the complete track listing:
Disc 1:
01. ANTHRAX - "Indians"
02. ANTHRAX - "Only"
03. DESTRUCTION - "Nailed To The Cross"
04. CHILDREN OF BODOM - "Sixpounder"
05. CANNIBAL CORPSE - "Dormant Bodies Bursting"
06. MAYHEM - "Pargans Fears"
07. DEATH ANGEL - "Thicker Than Blood"
08. UNLEASHED - "To Asgaard We Fly"
09. ORPHANAGE - "Five Crystals"
10. EKTOMORF - "I Know Them"
11. EKTOMORF - "Destroy"
12. BAL-SAGOTH - "The Emperial Lexicon"
13. MNEMIC - "Ghost"
14. CATHEDRAL - "Stained Glass Horizon"
15. NEVERMORE - "Enemies Of Reality"
Disc 2: More...
Corrosion Of Conformity To Tour With Motorhead
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY will be resurfacing to tour this March and April as support to none other than the almighty MOTORHEAD.
Motorhead To Play Mexico's Menterrey Metal Fest
MOTORHEAD are the first band confirmed for the MONTERREY METAL FEST Vol. II to be held on Saturday May 28, 2005 at the Auditorio Coca Cola in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The 1st edition of the festival was held last year on November 13, 2004 and featured TWISTED SISTER (headliner), DIO, QUIET RIOT, DOKKEN, HATEBREED, SHAMAN and CAGE.
The official festival website can be found at http://www.dve.com.mx/mmf.htm.
Morgana Lefay Confirmed For Bang Your Head 2005
Swedish metallers MORGANA LEFAY are the latest addition to the 2005 edition of the Bang Your Head festival (the 10th Anniversary edition) which is set to take place on June 24th and 25th in Balingen, Germany. Tickets are available at the ticket-hotline (+49-74 57-9 13 93) and via the homepage. Pre-sale cost of the tickets is 59 Euros (plus shipping). Organizers have "limited" tickets to 20, 000, to keep the one-stage event relaxed and somewhat intimate. More information can be found at Bang-Your-Head.de.
Acts currently confirmed for the festival now include:
More...
Virgin Steele Confirmed To Play At Bang Your Head
Virgin Steele are confirmed to play at Bang Your Head 2005-festival. The event is set to take place in Germany at the Messegelände of Balingen on the 24th and 25th of June.
Bang Your Head 2005 will be the 10th Bang Your Head in a row and is therefore themed "The Best of ten Years". To celebrate this anniversary, the festival's organizers invited the most popular acts of all former events. Alongside 22 acts that have rocked the festival's stage before, another well-known very special guest will be invited.
The list of artists set to perform at the Bang Your Head festival 2005 at Balingen, Germany, 24th/25th of June: More...
Headline News
Metalunderground's "Best Metal Album of The Year"
This year, Metalunderground.com is figuratively handing out an award of its own for "Best Metal Album of The Year." Everyone else hands out "best of year" awards or lists, so why shouldn't we? Afterall, the staff here at metalunderground.com has very diverse tastes, and we know our metal. So this year I asked each of our writers to pick their top 5 albums of 2004 and rank them form 1 to 5. What I saw was a lot of different opinions, but among the differences, two albums rose to the top.
Without further ado...[drum roll, please]...the winner of Metalunderground.com's "Best Metal Album of The Year" honor for 2004 is: More...
47th Grammy Nominees Announced
The 2005 Grammy Nominations are in, and Cradle Of Filth, Killswitch Engage, Nickelback, and Slipknot are all in the hunt. The Nominations for BEST HARD ROCK and METAL performances are as follows:
BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE:
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.) More...
Wurzel Rejoins Motorhead For A Moment
Motorhead were joined onstage by former guitarist Wurzel at the end of their London show on Saturday. This happened at the Hammersmith Apollo, when Wurzel did 'Overkill' with the band he quit in 1995. Since then, relations between Wurzel and Lemmy have been strained, to say the least.
The Ring On Tour With Motorhead And Sepultura
Swedish epic heavy rockers the Ring will support Motorhead and Sepultura on their German dates. Tour dates are as follows:
Dec 1 Osnabruck, Germany, Halle Gartlage
Dec 3 Erfurt, Germany, Thuringenhalle
Dec 4 Magdeburg, Germany, A.M.O.
Dec 5 Wiesbaden, Germany, Schlachthof
Dec 7 Dusseldorf, Germany, Philipshalle
Dec 8 Hannover, Germany, Capitol
Dec 9 Dresden, Germany, Schlachthof
Dec 10 Stuttgart, Germany, Congresscenter
Band: http://www.thering.se
Label: http://www.scarletrecords.it
Distro: http://www.point-music.com
The Ring's debut album Tales From Midgard Distributed in Germany by Point Music.
Iron Maiden Tribute CD Lineup Revealed
Legendary rock producer and musician Bob Kulick (Kiss, Meatloaf) has finished producing an all-star tribute to Iron Maiden in honor of their 25th anniversary. Culling from his extensive contacts in the musician world, Kulick has assembled major hard rock and metal players to come together and put this tribute album together.
All of the tracks have been completed except for two key signature vocalists to come in and finish the job. Kulick has been using the rest of the finished material to shop around for a label to license the masters and put out the hottest Iron Maiden tribute of all time.
The album will feature the following track listing/musicians: More...
Lemmy Kilmister: Metal Guru
The following article was posted on www.telegraph.co.uk on Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead:
From time to time comfortably clad, sensibly shod women of a certain age approach a 58-year-old man who's invariably dressed in skintight black jeans, white cowboy boots, a black shirt and an Iron Cross. His hair is dyed; so is theirs. His moustache, too, is dyed; they tend not to have one. He is Lemmy, the Jack Daniels-glugging fons et origo of Motörhead, the rock band that has deafened audiences and defined methedrine-fuelled metal music for nearly 30 years, and has, of late, become intensely fashionable again. They are among the 2,000 or so women who, Lemmy estimates, have rumpled his silken sheets
Born Ian Kilmister in Stoke-on-Trent, Lemmy was abandoned by his father, the vicar, when he was three months old: "I met him when I was 25. Nasty little weasel. He was a concert pianist as well, apparently, but he gave it up because it was too precarious an existence.' His voice drips scorn. 'I'm not like him." Lemmy's mother - "a very strong woman" - remarried, and Lemmy was raised in north Wales, in part on a farm: "I wanted to be a farmer; actually, I wanted to be a horse-breeder. And I had the stallions... but then I heard Little Richard, and that was it."
Just as significantly, he went to a concert in a north Walian boondock: "I don't really admire musicianship, per se - as is obvious from my own playing. I don't want to watch four guys playing their instruments and looking at their shoes. But I do admire a good act. I want to see people from another planet. Know what I mean? I want to see people come down and speak to me for an hour and a half and go away again - in the magic spacecraft. And I went to see Gene Vincent, and he was definitely from another planet. And that's as it should be."
Since then the band has made 26 or so albums, of which "Bastards" is a favourite. At one point recognised as the loudest band in the world, they have given the world such songs as "Killed by Death," 'Die, You Bastard," "I Am the Sword," and - their biggest hit - "Ace of Spades." The name Motörhead is a reference to Lemmy's tendresse for speed: "If you're going to do drugs, you might as well do something that's utilitarian... I mean, we once did 53 gigs in 56 days; you've got to have something to go on."
Read the full article at Telegraph Newspaper Online.
Headline News
Motorhead: Band Resumes Touring
Motorhead's official web site has been updated with the following message:
"In September of 2004, the world of metal was shocked when the news was unveiled that Lemmy, Motorhead's veteran frontman, had sustained an injury to his foot severe enough to cause the band to cancel their much anticipated tour of the United States. Lemmy had managed to get an infection on his foot from an injury sustained on an earlier show. Ignoring doctors' orders, Lemmy forged ahead and finished the highly successful string of European festival dates. 'Motorhead fans are the best fans in the world and they deserve everything I have to give,' Lemmy waxed, 'and I am going to do whatever I can to play the shows. F**k the doctors!' The band went on to play to thousands of fans, bring classics and new songs alike to the hungry metal heads!
"The shows were a success, but the infection in Lemmy's foot grew to the point that some serious medical decisions had to be made. On the eve of the band's much-anticipated U.S. tour, doctors advised Lemmy that the infection was so severe that they suggested amputating a part of his foot to stem the spread. Lemmy told the doctors where they could stick their diagnosis and decided to head back to his native home of England and consult his physicians there. They suggested that the best course of action would be to address the infection with a regimen of antibiotics. The cure worked and less than two weeks later Lemmy was out of the hospital, in one piece and as fit as a fiddle, fitted with steel strings. It wasn't long before Lemmy was back to his old self, checking out his favorite London strip club String Fellows with a girl on each arm and plenty of Jack & Coke to make the evening complete.
"Given a clean bill of health from all of his physicians, Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee decided to go ahead with their European tour plans. Motorhead kicks off the sold-out tour on November 4th in Dublin, Ireland. Dates continue throughout Europe and Scandinavia until the tour wraps up in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 19th.
"As for the U.S. tour? Plans are under way for Motorhead to take their spectacular road show to the US in March of 2005 to support their newest record 'Inferno'."
Lemmy Kilmister: "All Politicians Are Bastards"
Motorhead mainman Lemmy Kilmister recently spoke with Greece’s TV WAR (www.tvwar.gr) program and stated, “We don't care about politics, they are all the same anyway. All politicians are bastards anyway. Every one of them, doesn't matter who you vote for you'll always have a shitty government. All they are after is themselves and their pockets. They are all lying cheating bastards.”
Watch the rest of the interview on Wednesday, November 3rd on Iad TV. TV War is broadcast every Monday and Wednesday at 11 PM (CET) and you can watch it through the Greek Nova package on Hotbird 3 satellite.
Top Extreme Music Logos Of All Time
The staff of Decibel magazine has has ranked the "Top 40 Extreme Music Band Logos of All Time" for its December 2004 issue, which is scheduled to hit the newsstands November 7. The complete list is as follows:
01. SLAYER
02. DARKTHRONE
03. GODFLESH
04. MORBID ANGEL
05. MOTORHEAD
06. MAYHEM
07. METALLICA
08. POSSESSED
09. A.C.
10. NEUROSIS
11. CARCASS
12. BLACK FLAG
13. DEATH
14. OBITUARY
15. THE HAUNTED
16. MARDUK
17. NUCLEAR ASSAULT
18. EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN
19. CRASS
20. NAPALM DEATH
21. VENOM
22. EMPEROR
23. CONVERGE
24. YOUNG GODS
25. VOIVOD
26. AUTOPSY
27. SEPULTURA
28. D.R.I.
29. IMMORTAL
30. BOLT THROWER
31. PARADISE LOST
32. CELTIC FROST
33. ABRUPTUM
34. DARK FUNERAL
35. ENTOMBED
36. DISCHARGE
37. CATHEDRAL
38. DISCORDANCE AXIS
39. TODAY IS THE DAY
40. TERRORIZER
More information on Decibel magazine is available at www.decibelmagazine.com.
Motorhead Record Song For Spongebob Squarepants
Motorhead are among the artists who will be featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming "SpongeBob Squarepants" movie, reports ABC ePrep. The Flaming Lips will provide the disc's first single, a track called "SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy," while Lemmy and the boys have re-recorded their song "You Better Run" under the new title "You Better Swim." The album will be released November 9, ten days before the film opens in theaters.
Headline News
Motorhead Cancel US Tour
Motorhead have been forced to cancel their previously announced U.S. tour scheduled for September/October due to a foot injury suffered by vocalist/bassist Lemmy.
Lemmy, ignoring the pain and against his European doctor's recommendation, completed the few remaining shows on the Motorhead summer festival tour.
Since he was not able to rest his foot for a while, Lemmy's injury worsened, and his U.S. doctor insisted in no uncertain terms that Lemmy stay off his foot for several weeks in order for it to heal properly.
Motorhead will return for a U.S. tour in March 2005. "Lemmy, guitarist Philip Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee hate to disappoint their fans but it is necessary for Lemmy's injury to heal so that Motorhead can rock long into the future," reads a statement from the band.
Sepultura Start New Album, To Tour With Motorhead
Brazilian thrashers Sepultura have commenced the songwriting process for their new album, tentatively due in early 2005. "The guys have been really busy down here," reads a posting on the band's website. "Shows all over Brazil in the weekends and practice during the week. And they are also practicing a lot of surprises for the Sepulfest in September 25th in São Paulo."
As previously reported, Sepultura have been officially confirmed to support Motorhead on their upcoming European tour. Opening the shows on the U.K. portion of the trek will be Simi Valley's own Class of Zero.
Confirmed dates are as follows: More...
Forgotten Tomb Updates
Forgotten Tomb's album "Love's Burial Ground" suffered some delays with the final release-date, but it will be finally available next week.
The band is currently assembling material for the mighty "Live Manipulation" DVD. The DVD will include a professionally-shot live-show + other 3/4 amateurish (yet good-sounding) gigs, as well as some other bonus material (backstage, interviews, pics gallery, rehearsals, studio-reports, etc.). Expect this monumental curse to be unleashed upon feeble mankind in the beginning of 2005.
The band is working on the re-release of "Obscura Arcana Mortis" too. The remastering of the MCD as well as the recording of the "Obscura Arcana Mortis MMIV" track will be done around October. This new version will see the presence of a special-guest recording some extra-vocals.
The band has been asked by a french underground label to take part in a Black Metal Motorhead-tribute LP!! The band is currently deciding what song will be covered. It seems that many other bands are already confirmed for this tribute, so expect a damn fucked up Black n' Roll release, as well as the most bizarre FT recording ever.
Motorhead Announces US Tour Dates
The Motörhead legend roars on in 2004 with the unleashing of the new studio album "Inferno.'" U.S. tour dates are now scheduled to promote this Metal-Is/Sanctuary Records release. It's the first album of new, skin-peeling material from vocalist/bassist Lemmy, guitarist Philip Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee since 2002's "Hammered" and it's the first Motörhead release since last year's critically acclaimed, five-disc, career-spanning box set "Stone Deaf Forever."
Displaying records 361 - 380 of 383 1 2 ... 17 18 19 20 Last