Lemmy Kilmister Caricature

Lemmy Kilmister Caricature, shown here with his iconic crossed-swords hat, in Munich, circa 2002, age 57.

Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known as Lemmy, was an English singer, songwriter, and bass musician who founded and fronted the rock band Motörhead.

Lemmy’s music was one of the foundations of the heavy metal genre. He was known for his appearance, including his friendly mutton chops; gravelly, raspy singing voice, which was declared “one of the most recognizable voices in rock”; and his way of singing, looking up towards “a towering microphone tilted down into his weather-beaten face”. He was also known for his bass playing style, using his Rickenbacker bass to create an “overpowered, distorted rhythmic rumble”. Another unique aspect of Lemmy’s bass sound is that he often played power chords using growling over-driven Marshall tube bass stacks.

As a teen, his nickname originated from the phrase “lemmy (lend me) a quid ’til Friday” because of his alleged habit of borrowing money from people to play slot machines. At age 22, Lemmy moved to London in 1967. He shared a flat with Noel Redding, bassist of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and with Neville Chesters, their road manager. He got a job as a roadie for the band.

In 1975 after leaving his band Hawkwind, Lemmy formed Motörhead with guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor and with this line-up, the band began to achieve success.
The band’s success peaked in 1980 and 1981 with several UK chart hits, including the single “Ace of Spades”, which remained a crowd favorite throughout the band’s career, and the UK #1 live album No Sleep ’til Hammersmith. Motörhead became one of the most influential bands in the heavy metal genre.

Top 10 hit songs: “Ace Of Spades”, “Overkill”, “Killed By Death”, “Orgasmatron”, “(We Are) The Roadcrew”, “Bomber”, “Motorhead”, “Dancing On Your Grave”, “Iron Fist” and “I’m So Bad (Baby I Don’t Care)”.

Lemmy was well known for his alcohol abuse. 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. In the early 1970’s he developed an appetite for amphetamines and LSD, particularly the former.

Lemmy lived in Los Angeles from 1990 until his death, his last residence being a two-room apartment two blocks away from his favorite hangout, the Rainbow Bar and Grill.
In the summer of 2015, cancer was found in his brain and neck; following the terminal diagnosis, Rainbow Bar owner Mikael Maglieri brought a video game machine that Lemmy was fond of playing at the establishment over to his apartment so he could continue playing it from his bedside.

On December 28, 2015, four days after his 70th birthday, Lemmy died at his apartment in Los Angeles from prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure.