Lemmy

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Lemmy
Lemmy performing in Mexico City in 2006
Lemmy performing in Mexico City in 2006
Background information
Birth name Ian Fraiser Kilmister
Also known as Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraiser Willis
Lemmy the Lurch
Born December 24, 1945 (age 61)
Origin Stoke-on-Trent, England
Genre(s) Heavy metal
Speed metal
Instrument(s) Vocals
Bass guitar
Guitar
Harmonica
Associated
acts		 Motörhead
Hawkwind
The Damned
The Rainmakers
The Rockin' Vickers
Opal Butterfly
The Head Cat
Website imotorhead.com
Notable instrument(s)
Rickenbacker bass guitar

Lemmy (born Ian Fraiser Kilmister on December 24, 1945, also known as Ian Willis and Lemmy Kilmister) is an English singer and bass guitarist, most famous for being the founding member of the heavy metal band Motörhead. His appearance, facial moles, Mutton-Chops (sideburn-moustache combination), and gravelly voice, have made him a cult figure, known beyond the world of rock music.

Lemmy was born in Burslem,[1][2] Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and raised in Anglesey, Wales. His father, a clergyman, left the family when Lemmy was three months old.

Contents

[edit] Career

Kilmister spent the 1960s in a number of small bands, including; Opal Butterfly, Sam Gopal, and The Rockin' Vickers as well as working as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix in 1967, and also as a roadie for The Nice. In 1971, Kilmister joined the space rock band, Hawkwind, who were based in Ladbroke Grove, London. 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.

In 1975, Kilmister was fired from Hawkwind after he was arrested at Canadian customs on possession charges, he spent five days in prison.[2][3] Kilmister went on to form a new band 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 step-father to Lemmy's son, Paul. This new band was originally called Bastard. When his manager informed him that a band by that name will never get a slot on "Top of the Pops", Kilmister changed the band's name to Motörhead - the title of the last song Lemmy wrote for Hawkwind.[4]

Soon after, 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 band's sound appealed to both Lemmy's original heavy metal fans, 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 #1 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith . Motörhead have since gone on to become one of the most influential bands in the heavy metal music genre, and although Lemmy is the only constant member, are still performing and releasing records to this day. Despite Motörhead'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 Motörhead 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 Motörhead. In 2005 Motörhead won their first Grammy, beating out such modern contemporaries like Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed, and Cradle of Filth, in the Best Metal Performance category with their cover of Metallica's "Whiplash".

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 Motörhead"), 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 (who at one point wore his mustache and sideburns like Lemmy as a tribute), as well as Line in the Sand for Triple H's 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 an anarchist,[5] saying that "government causes more problems than it solves"[6] and that he is "anti-communism, fascism, any extreme."[5] 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.

[edit] Equipment

Lemmy has used Rickenbacker 4001 and 4003 bass guitars almost exclusively since the Hawkwind days, though some of these instruments were modified with the installation of Gibson Thunderbird pickups in the neck position. Rickenbacker recently produced a 50-bass run of Lemmy Kilmister signature basses, the 4004LK, which is fitted with three pickups, gold hardware, and elaborate wood carving in the shape of oak leaves. Recently, he has been using a customised 4004.

For amplification he uses Marshall amplifiers, specifically hot-rodded Marshall JMP Superbass IIs from the later 1960s/early 1970s. Each amp, with a nominal output of 100 watts, is used with a 4x12 speaker cab and a custom-made 4x15 cab. Lemmy uses two such stacks, one on each side of the drum riser. For many years the amps were nicknamed "No Remorse", "Killer" (left side amp) or "Murder One" (right side amp) with appropriate nameplates. No Remorse was subsequently replaced by a new amp nicknamed "Marsha" when, as Lemmy observed in an October 2004 interview, it "blew up". "Killer" and "Murder" One were destroyed in Argentina when all the other equipment was stolen. They were not seen for many years, but in 2006 "Murder One" got on stage again.

The phrase "everything louder than everyone else" sums up Lemmy's sonic approach, as he plays at an absolutely earsplitting volume. He uses the bridge pickup exclusively and turns everything on the bass up full. On the amplifiers, he turns the bass and treble off, and the midrange up all the way, with the volume and presence up to 3:00. The result is a biting midrange sound which is distorted but not fuzzed out and blurry, a formula well-suited to Lemmy's use of open-string drones and power chords, all of which is played at hell-bent-for-leather tempos.

Lemmy has occasionally played acoustic guitar, notably on the acoustic song "Ain't No Nice Guy" from Motörhead's March Ör Die album, the title track on 1996's Overnight Sensation, and "Whorehouse Blues" from the Inferno album.

[edit] Public speaker

In November 2005 Lemmy, was invited to the Welsh Assembly as a guest speaker by Tory Welsh assembly member William Graham. He was asked to express his views on the detrimental effects of drugs. However he shocked the Assembly Members and Welsh public when he called for the legalisation 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.[7]

[edit] Sexuality

In an article for BraveWords.com, Lemmy supposedly claimed to have engaged in bisexual behaviour. This was proven to be a hoax. Lemmy is said to have called up the journalist who claimed he was bisexual, and informed him that "it would be difficult for him to kneel down and get his floppy disk with a screwdriver through both knees."[8] The article was entirely removed from the website shortly after its appearance. Online music news site Blabbermouth.net credit themselves with being the informants of the article's inauthenticity.[9]

Appearing in a Channel 4 documentary called "Motörhead: Live Fast, Die Old" broadcast on August 22, 2005, it was claimed that Lemmy "had bedded" in excess of 2,000 women. In the documentary Lemmy also explained that while in school he noticed a pupil who had brought a guitar to school and had been "surrounded by chicks", Lemmy's mother had a guitar, which he then took to school, even though he could not play, and was himself surrounded by girls, "in those days just having a guitar was enough" and from then on "that was it".

[edit] Discography

  • 1965 The Rockin' Vickers - Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart/ Stella (7")
  • 1965 The Rockin' Vickers - It's Alright / Stay By Me(7")
  • 1966 The Rockin' Vickers - Dandy/ I Don't Need Your Kind (7")
  • 1969 Sam Gopal - Escalator
  • 1970 Opal Butterfly - Groupie Girl (7")
  • 1972 Hawkwind - Silver Machine/ Seven By Seven (7")
  • 1972 Various artists: Revelation triple album (one side of Hawkwind)
  • 1972 Various artists: Greasy Trucker's Party (one side of Hawkwind)
  • 1972 Hawkwind - Doremi Fasol Latido
  • 1973 Hawkwind - Lord Of Light (7")
  • 1973 Hawkwind - Urban Guerilla (7")
  • 1973 Hawkwind - Space Ritual
  • 1974 Hawkwind - Hall Of The Mountain Grill
  • 1974 Hawkwind - Psychedelic Warlords (7")
  • 1974 Robert Calvert Ejection/ Catch A Falling Starfighter (7")
  • 1974 Robert Calvert - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
  • 1975 Hawkwind - Kings Of Speed (7")
  • 1975 Hawkwind - Warrior on the Edge of Time
  • 1977 Hawkwind - Masters of the Universe (compilation)
  • 1977 Motörhead - Motörhead
  • 1979 Motörhead - Overkill
  • 1979 Motörhead - On Parole (recorded in 1975)
  • 1979 The Damned - I Just Can't Be Happy Today/ Ballroom Blitz (with Lemmy on bass) / Turkey Song(7")
  • 1979 The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
  • 1979 Motörhead - Bomber
  • 1980 Motörhead - Ace of Spades
  • 1980 The Young & Moody Band - Don't Do That (7" & 12")
  • 1981 Motörhead - No Sleep Til Hammersmith
  • 1981 Headgirl (Motörhead & Girlschool) - The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
  • 1982 Motörhead - Iron Fist
  • 1982 Lemmy & Wendy O. Williams - Stand By Your Man
  • 1983 Motörhead - Another Perfect Day
  • 1984 Motörhead - No Remorse
  • 1984 Hawkwind - Earth Ritual Preview (12" EP)
  • 1984 Robert Calvert - Freq
  • 1984 Various artists - Hear'n'Aid
  • 1985 Hawkwind - Space Ritual Vol. 2 (compilation live)
  • 1985 Hawkwind - In the Beginning (live)
  • 1986 Motörhead - Orgasmatron
  • 1986 Hawkwind - Approved History Of Hawkwind 1967-1982
  • 1987 Motörhead - Rock'N'Roll
  • 1988 Motörhead - No Sleep at All
  • 1988 Albert Jarvinen Band - Countdown
  • 1989 Nina Hagen - Nina Hagen
  • 1990 Lemmy & The Upsetters - Blue Suede Shoes
  • 1990 Various artists - The Last Temptation Of Elvis: Blue Suede Shoes
  • 1990 Hardware - Original Soundtrack
  • 1991 Motörhead - 1916
  • 1992 Motörhead - March ör Die
  • 1992 Various Artists - Hellraiser III:Hell on Earth (Original Soundtrack)
  • 1993 Motörhead - Bastards
  • 1993 The Damned - Tales From The Damned
  • 1994 Fast Eddie Clarke - It Ain't over Till It's Over
  • 1994 Shonen Knife - Tomato Head (promo single)
  • 1994 Shonen Knife - Rock Animals
  • 1995 Motörhead - Sacrifice
  • 1996 Motörhead - Overnight Sensation
  • 1996 Skew Siskin - Electric Chair Music
  • 1996 Ugly Kid Joe - Motel California
  • 1996 Various artists - Straight Edge as Fuck, Vol. 1-2
  • 1996 Myth Dreams of World - Stories of the Greek & Roman Gods & Goddesses
  • 1996 Skew Siskin - Voices From The War
  • 1997 Various artists - Dragon Attack: A Tribute To Queen
  • 1997 The Ramones - We're Outta Here!
  • 1998 Motörhead - Snake Bite Love
  • 1998 Various artists - Thunderbolt: A Tribute To AC/DC
  • 1998 Various artists - ECW: Extreme Music
  • 1999 Motörhead - Everything Louder Than Everyone Else
  • 1999 Jetboy - Lost & Found
  • 1999 Skew Siskin - What The Hell
  • 1999 Hawkwind - Epoch Eclipse: 30 Year Anthology (compilation box)
  • 1999 A.N.I.M.A.L. - Usa Toda Tu Fuerza
  • 2000 Lemmy - Slim Jim & Danny B - Lemmy - Slim Jim & Danny B
  • 2000 Motörhead - We Are Motörhead
  • 2000 Motörhead - The Best of Motörhead
  • 2000 Motörhead - The Chase Is Better Than The Catch (compilation)
  • 2000 Motörhead - Over The Top - The Rarities (compilation)
  • 2000 Swing Cats - A Special Tribute To Elvis
  • 2000 The Rockin' Vicars - The Complete - It's Alright
  • 2000 Various artists - Bat Head Soup - Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne
  • 2000 Doro - Calling The Wild
  • 2001 Motörhead - All The Aces (compilation)
  • 2001 The Pirates - Rock Bottom
  • 2001 Various artists - Metallic Assault - A Tribute To Metallica
  • 2001 Hair of the Dog - Ignite
  • 2001 Various artists - Twisted Forever
  • 2001 Various artists - Frezno Smooth (Original Soundtrack)
  • 2001 Various artists - WWE: The Music, Vol. 5
  • 2002 Motörhead - Hammered
  • 2002 Various artists - Guitar Greats
  • 2002 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mike Batt and guests - Philharmania
  • 2002 Various artists - Metal Brigade
  • 2002 Various artists - Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three
  • 2003 Motörhead - Stone Deaf Forever (box set 5 CD)
  • 2003 Motörhead - Live at Brixton Academy - The Complete Concert
  • 2003 Various artists - Ash Wednesday (Original Soundtrack)
  • 2003 Ace Sounds - Still Hungry
  • 2003 Skew Siskin - Album Of The Year
  • 2004 Motörhead - Inferno
  • 2004 Probot - Probot
  • 2004 Various Artists - The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Soundtrack (with Motörhead, contributed "You'd Better Swim")
  • 2004 Various Artists - Metallica: The Ultimate Tribute Album (This has Motörhead doing Whiplash for which they won the grammy)
  • 2004/5 Various - Numbers From The Beast: An All Star Salute To Iron Maiden - Trooper
  • 2005 Hawkwind - Take Me to Your Leader
  • 2005 Throw Rag - 13 Ft. and Rising - Tonight the Bottle let me Down
  • 2005 Skew Siskin - Devil's Disciple (Compilation)
  • 2006 Lemmy - Damage Case (Compilation)
  • 2006 The Head Cat - Fool's Paradise
  • 2006 Various artists - WWE Wreckless Intent
  • 2006 Motörhead - Kiss of Death

[edit] Videography

[edit] VHS

[edit] DVD

[edit] Books

[edit] Trivia

  • About his band, Lemmy is quoted as saying "We want to be the band that if we moved in next door to you, your lawn would die."
  • Lemmy has made cameo appearances as a villain in the Boys Don't Cry music video I Wanna Be a Cowboy, in The Ramones' video for "Substitute", in The Comic Strip Presents... More Bad News, The Young Ones, and in John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut.
  • In the movie Airheads starring Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, and Steve Buscemi. In one scene, Brendan Fraser's character, "Chazz" Chester Darvey, is 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 stutters and asks, "... God?". Chazz replies saying, "Wrong, dickhead, trick question. Lemmy is God".[10] Lemmy makes an appearance in the film and shouts out (truthfully) that he edited his school newspaper as other people in the crowd admit geeky pastimes in their youth.[11]
  • Lemmy played a water taxi driver in the movie Hardware; playing Motörhead for his passengers.
  • Lemmy also appeared on an intro scene on The Drew Carey Show in which Motörhead plays outside Drew's home, startling him awake.
  • Lemmy is one of very few musicians to have been mentioned on Beavis and Butt-Head who was not made fun of. Upon seeing him appear in a video for a group that was not Motörhead, Butthead exclaimed, "He's Lemmy. He can be in any damn video he wants to!"
  • Lemmy was originally a guitarist. He didn't play bass until he joined Hawkwind.
  • Sid Vicious is said to have asked Lemmy to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass." Lemmy's reply was (according to himself) "I know." In another interview Lemmy stated "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died, I mean, fucking hell. Well, and everybody knows that, just listen to the Sex Pistols record that he was on, you know, you can tell it's Steve standing in for him. In fact I'm not sure if Sid was ever on the record, I think it was Steve who played bass."[12]
  • Lemmy plays the voice of the weapons dealer in the game Scarface: The World Is Yours.
  • In the webcomic Achewood Lemmy is referred to as "The Mayor of Drinkin' Island".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kilmister, Ian Fraser and Garza, Janiss, White Line Fever, Simon & Schuster, 2002 ISBN 0-684-85868-1 p.5
  2. ^ a b Lemmy: White Line Fever - from, er, Stoke BBC News Stoke and Staffordshire article. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
  3. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Motörhead > Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  4. ^ Motörhead Chronology. Official Motörhead site. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  5. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck (1997). Damage Case: Lemmy and Motörhead. Motörhead Forever. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  6. ^ Samudrala, Ram (October 29, 1996). Born to Raise Hell. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  7. ^ MOTÖRHEAD's LEMMY Tells Welsh Assembly: Legalize Heroin. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  8. ^ Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister Talks About Heroin, Rumors And Viagra. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  9. ^ MOTÖRHEAD Frontman LEMMY Is NOT Bisexual. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
  10. ^ Memorable Quotes from Airheads. IMDb Airheads article. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  11. ^ Full Cast and Crew for Airheads. IMDb Airheads article. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  12. ^ It's only Rock & Roll but he likes it!. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Motörhead
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Members
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister - Phil Campbell - Mikkey Dee
Former members: Larry Wallis - "Fast" Eddie Clarke - Brian "Robbo" Robertson - Michael "Würzel" Burston
Lucas Fox - Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - Pete Gill - Tommy Aldridge
Discography

Albums: On Parole - Motörhead - Overkill - Bomber - Ace of Spades - No Sleep 'til Hammersmith - Iron Fist - Another Perfect Day - No Remorse - Orgasmatron - Rock 'n' Roll - No Sleep at All - 1916 - March ör Die - Bastards - Sacrifice - Overnight Sensation - Snake Bite Love - Everything Louder Than Everyone Else - We Are Motörhead - The Best Of - Hammered - Live at Brixton Academy - Inferno - BBC Live & In-Session - Kiss of Death
Related articles

Motörhead discography - Joe Petagno - Alan Burridge - Headgirl
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