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 141 - 160 of 383 1 2 ... 6 7 8 9 10 ... 19 20 Last
Column
The Rockstar Ramblings: The Ozzy Hangover Cure
Ozzy Osbourne has gotten into another traffic altercation, this time rear ending another car while driving a Ferrari. In honor of this monthly event, let’s have a quiz: Which of the following are true of Ozzy’s driving habits? A. It took him 19 attempts at the driving test in order to get his license. B. Ozzy once fell asleep during a driving test, the instructor was gone when he awoke. C. Ozzy repeatedly showed up with alcohol in his body to his driving tests. D. All of the above… More...
Visons Of Atlantis To Play Wacken 2011
Visions of Atlantis has announced it will be performing at the 2011 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, which is set to take place in Wacken, Germany from August 4th - 6th. Additional details on the festival can be found at this location.
Other confirmed bands for the festival include:
Motorhead
Airbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
Avantasia
Judas Priest
Apocalyptica
Motorhead Confirms Festival Appearance
British heavy metal legends Motorhead have announced its participation for the forthcoming edition of Germany's infamous Wacken Open Air festival. Wacken 2011 is set to take place between August 4th, 5th and 6th in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
The confirmed line-up now includes:
ACCU§ER
APOCALYPTICA
AVANTASIA
BLAAS OF GLORY
BLIND GUARDIAN
EXCREMENTORY GRINDFUCKERS
HEAVEN SHALL BURN
HAYSEED DIXIE
IN SOLITUDE
JUDAS PRIEST
KHOLD
KNORKATOR
MAYHEM
MOTORHEAD
OZZY OSBOURNE
PRIMAL FEAR
RHAPSODY OF FIRE
RUSSKAJA
SEPULTURA
SKALMOLD
SKI KING
SODOM
STIER
SUBWAY TO SALLY
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
TOKYO BLADE
TRIVIUM
WARRANT
Onslaught Posts New Music Video Online
British thrash metal veterans Onslaught has posted their new music video online, for their cover of the classic Motorhead song, "Bomber." You can check it out below. The song features guest appearances from Sodom frontman Tom Angelripper and Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell. The track is expected to appear on the band's forthcoming new studio album, "Sounds Of Violence." More...
New Motorhead Music Video Posted Online
Heavy metal legends Motorhead have teamed up with MetalInjection to release its new music video. The video was shot for the track "Get Back In Line" and is taken from the forthcoming studio album, "The World Is Yours." "The World Is Yours" is being released on December 14, 2010 with Classic Rock Magazine Presents: Motorhead. Following this four-week exclusive period, "The World Is Yours" will be released on January 17, 2011 in a standard CD format. You can view the video below:
Motorhead Posts New Album Samples Online
British heavy metal icons Motorhead has posted samples of each song from their forthcoming new studio album, "The World Is Yours" online. You can listen to them by heading to Amazon.de. The album will initially be released in Germany on December 10th, and then as part of a Classic Rock magazine special, which will hit news stands on December 14th. The album will then be released worldwide in jewel case format on January 17th.
Column
The Rockstar Ramblings: Skating with Vince
In response to the Motley Crue/Poison 2011 tour Bret Michaels admits that his pre-mature announcement may have been a “pipe dream”. Vince Neil commented, saying it was “wishful thinking” at best. Is it just me or are these two being way too nice to each other? I smell another reality show. Ladies and gentlemen it’s VH1 Rock of Hair starring Vince Neil and Bret Michaels, watch as the two compete for well used girls, camera time, and dollars to go toward their next plastic surgery session… More...
Onslaught Reveals New Single Guests
In a recent update, Onslaught founder and guitarist Nige Rockett revealed that the band's forthcoming new single release, "The Sound Of Violence/Bomber" will feature guest appearances from Sodom frontman Tom Angelripper and Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell. The message reads as follows:
"We're really stoked to finally be getting some new material out in the public domain, its been such a long time since the Killing Peace album and this will be a great little sampler for the upcoming album release in early 2011. The Sound Of Violence' track is a cool representation of things to come, its got a real old school Onslaught feel but its very contemporary at the same time. A real angry no nonsense thrasher.
"Regarding the 'Bomber' cover: "Motörhead have always been a huge influence on Onslaught and our relationship goes back a long long way. So when we decided to have some fun and do a cover song in the studio, this track immediately sprang to mind, especially as its relative to the theme of the new album. We've given it a pretty aggressive Onslaught slant and thrashed it up little, but still very much retaining the original identity of the song. To make things a little more interesting, we thought we would like to add some very special guests into the mix. We asked Phil (Campbell) if he would like to come and thrash out with us and play some guitar on the track - the answer was an undoubted 'Yes'. Things we're sounding pretty cool in rehearsal but just missing that tiny piece of magic/the icing on the cake. Then Phil came in and played that awesome riff in his style and everything just fell right into place.
"We also had the idea that our friend Tom Angelripper (Sodom) would sound perfect sharing the vocal duties with our own Mr Keeler, we knew Tom Was in the studio recording the new Sodom record so the timing was perfect. We sent over the tracks and Tom did the rest, he laid down some great fucking vocals as you will hear and its really added something special to the final result.
"As you can tell really I'm buzzing about all this... its an exciting time to be in Onslaught right now." More...
Motorhead To Perform On "Conan"
Motorhead have announced that it will be performing on the January 26, 2011 episode of Conan O'Brien's new late night talk show on TBS. Motorhead are currently on tour to promote its forthcoming studio album "The World Is Yours."
"The World Is Yours" track listing:
1. Born To Lose
2. I Know How To Die
3. Get Back In Line
4. Devil's In My Head
5. Rock 'N' Roll Music
6. Waiting For The Snake
7. Brotherhood Of Man
8. Outlaw
9. I Know What You Need
10. Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye
Motorhead To Release New Album In December
Heavy metal icons Motorhead has announced that they will be releasing their brand new studio album, entitled "The World Is Yours," on December 13th in the United Kingdom through their own label Motorhead Music in conjunction with EMI Music Service. Release dates for other territories are expected to be revealed shortly. You can also check out the artwork below.
The group has also revealed the tracklisting for the new album, which is as follows:
Born To Lose
I Know How To Die
Get Back In Line
Devils In My Head
Rock 'N' Roll Music
Waiting For The Snake
Brotherhood Of Man
Outlaw
I Know What You Need
Bye Bye Bitch Bye Bye More...
Motorhead's Kronenbourg Advert Posted Online
A new commercial for the french lager Kronenbourg 1664 featuring hard rock legends Motorhead has been posted online. You can check it out below. The advert features the band performing their classic song, "Ace Of Spades" in a whole new way, as part of the drink's "Slow The Pace" campaign. More...
Motorhead To Re-Record "Ace Of Spades" For Advert
Heavy metal icons Motorhead will be re-recording their classic song, "Ace Of Spades" for a forthcoming commercial for the French lager, Kronenbourg 1664. The song will be performed at half the tempo as a blues track, which is part of Kronenbourg's "Slow Down The Pace" campaign. The song will also be available for download from Kronenbourg's website.
Trailer Released For Lemmy/Motorhead Film
The first trailer has been posted online for the much anticipated documentary of metal icon Lemmy Kilmister. The film, titled "LEMMY," premiered in March 2010 during the South by Southwest Festival at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. The press release states:
"Over four decades, Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister has registered an immeasurable impact on music history. At 62, he remains the living embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle, and this feature-length documentary tells his story, one of a hard-living rock icon who continues to enjoy the life of a man half his age. 'LEMMY' includes interviews with friends, family, bandmates past and present and admirers/peers such as Slash, Dave Grohl, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Hook, Alice Cooper, Mick Jones of The Clash, C.C. Deville of Posion and many others. The film crushes all myths, rumours and speculation about Lemmy, while giving his millions of fans more access to his life than ever before."
You can view the trailer below:
Motorhead To Release Another Compilation
A new compilation album from hard rock legends Motorhead is scheduled to be released on October 18th through Spectrum Audio / Universal Music. The record is entitled, "Aces Up My Sleeve" and will feature many of the bands classics including, "Bomber," "Overkill" and the iconic, "Ace Of Spades."
The tracklisting for the album is as follows:
"Ace Of Spades"
"Bomber"
"Iron Fist"
"Leaving Here"
"Killed By Death"
"Louie Louie"
"Stay Clean"
"Overkill"
"Please Don't Touch"
"Dead Men Tell No Tales"
"The Chase Is Better Than The Catch"
"Eat The Rich"
"I Got Mine"
"Nothing Up My Sleeve"
"Heart Of Stone"
"Motorhead" (Live)
"Damage Case"
"(We Are) The Roadcrew"
"Shine"
"Iron Horse / Born To Lose"
Michael Monroe To Support Motorhead In The UK
Michael Monroe, the multi-instrumentalist and former lead singer of Hanoi Rocks, has been confirmed as the special guest for Motorhead, when they tour the United Kingdom later this year. Monroe's band features bassist Sami Yaffa who has previously performedwith such bands as the New York Dolls, as well as guitarist Ginger, who is best known as the frontman of British rock band The Wildhearts.
The tour dates are as follows: More...
Chthonic Confirmed for Japan's Loud Park Festival
Taiwanese black metal band Chthonic has been confirmed for this year's edition of Loud Park, the biggest metal festival in Japan. The festival is set to take place October 16-17 at Saitama Super Arena.
The line-up includes: Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Motorhead, Angra, Dir En Grey, Edguy, Amon Amarth, 3 Inches of Blood and many more.
For more information, visit www.loudpark.com.
Amon Amarth To Play Loud Park Festival
Sweden's Amon Amarth has been confirmed to perform at the 2010 edition of Japan's Loud Park festival, which takes place in Tokyo on October 16th and 17th. The band issued the following brief comment about the festival appearance: "We are very excited to announce that we will be going to Japan this year! It will be the very first time for us and this long overdue show will be at the legendary LOUD PARK Festival..... Kanpai!"
Other confirmed acts include Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Motorhead, Avenged Sevenfold, Angra, Spiritual Beggars, Dir En Grey, and more. You can find all the details on the festival at this location.
Danko Jones Releases "Full of Regret" Video
Danko Jones recently released their new music video for “Full Of Regret.” The clip was directed by the Diamond Brothers and features guest appearances by Elijah Wood, Selma Blair, Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD) and Mike Watt (MINUTEMEN, FIREHOSE, STOOGES).
Column
The Rockstar Ramblings: Revolver Awards Diary
The past weekend VH1 Classic showcased the Revolver Golden Gods Awards show (taped from April 9th), an annual show of hard rock and heavy metal awards chosen by the readers of the rock magazine, Revolver. You can catch reruns of this event twice daily, for the next eighteen months. More...
Lemmy And More Pay Tribute To Ronnie Dio
As the world mourns the loss of Ronnie James Dio, the brilliant heavy metal singer who worked with the likes of Black Sabbath, Rainbow and his own, self-titled band, more of his peers have posted messages online as a tribute. You can read some more below.
Lemmy (Motorhead): "I'm truly upset, especially since he seemed to be rallying at the Golden Gods show. Bon Voyage, Ronnie. Rest in peace. I'm devastated."
Jeff Waters (Annihilator): "He was a super nice person, uniquely talented and has left us all with great music. In a way, it will strange to live and work in a world and business where RJD is no longer on tour, at the festivals, putting out his music. You will never be forgotten and will live on in the music of so many others. Stand up and shout." More...
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