Talk:Lemmy

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[edit] PROBOT

I removed the reference to Lemmy's appearance on Dave Grohl's PROBOT. Lemmy has made guest appearances with loads of artistes and I don't think this one warrants a particular mention. --Lancevortex 11:54, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Kilmister or Kilminster?

Can anyone answer this one for sure? -- The Anome 00:10, Oct 31, 2004 (UTC)

Ah. Found a reference: [1] -- but this one says Ian Fraser Kilmister -- now I'm more confused than before. -- The Anome 00:13, Oct 31, 2004 (UTC)

His autobiography says "Ian Fraser Kilmister", just like your source. Will edit article appropriately --Lancevortex 22:55, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

The article now leads with the following: Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister (born Ian Fraser Kilminster), thus using both spellings. Does anyone know for sure which it is? 23 June 2006

As above, it's Kilmister. --Lancevortex 14:23, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Kilminster is just a typo. - Deathrocker 15:51, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

I am 44 yo and I remember very well that when I was 18 I have red in a magazine that the real name was Kilminster ... so I am surprised to see that the "N" has disapeared... Vegetarian75 09:05, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

With 1,150 hits on Google for "Ian Kilminster" surely the article should acknowledge that this is a common mis-spelling (if that is what it is)? --C Hawke 09:51, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Big Fun (capture this): (Lemmy is performing a few miles away from me right now as - ahem, nice turn'o'phrase (yawn) - as we speak) "Lemmy von Motörhead" is definitely NOT ze same as "Anything von Beethoven". It just means "Lemmy of [a band called] Motörhead". So please cross it out of the first phrase (although Lemmy might light it) of your article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.143.120.188 (talk) 23:45, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bravewords.com

The article has now been pulled, searches of the site for lemmy now do not bring up the same news story results as a few hours ago. Alf 3 July 2005 22:01 (UTC)

[edit] Grohl quote

I've removed this:

Dave Grohl has been quoted as saying: "Fuck Elvis and Keith Richards, Lemmy is the God of Rock 'n' Roll".

as I cannot find any evidence for this quote. Can anyone give a cite? -- Karada 13:45, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Fine with that, looked for it the other day, but searches with elvis... I had to give up. Alf 13:54, 12 July 2005 (UTC)
Dave Grohl did indeed say this - it's been quoted in several music magazines and the quote is displayed on the PROBOT main site - http://www.southernlord.com/probot/singer.html <--- scroll down to "Shake Your Blood - Lemmy" . The actual quote is: "Fuck Elvis and Keith Richards, Lemmy's the king of rock 'n' roll" - Adam 20th December 2005 13:01 GMT

[edit] Warts

Any extra info on his warts??--87.80.126.226 00:59, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

  • I heard a rumour that Lemmy had the warts removed and sold all but one of them on E-Bay. Hamster Sandwich 02:31, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

They're not warts, they're moles -and no, he hasn't had them removed or e-bay'd

[edit] Sandwich

Can anyone find any verification on the Sandwich Story so it can be included? It seems to me essential to understanding Lemmy. (Lemmy overhears a couple of kids saying how hungry they are and pulls a lint-covered half a sandwich out of his pocket and gives it to them) El Mariachi 02:11, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] "Lemme a fiver"

I think this assumption is true where his nickname comes from, but it's definitely LEMME a fiver. His name is Lemmy because "lemme" and "lemmy" pronounces exactly the same. But "lend me" in slang is "lemme" with an e at the end. Any objections? Then I will change this. -andy 80.129.97.113 20:51, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I asked him about this- apparently that story is apocryphal and he has no memory of where the nickname came from. His autobiography states the same thing. Zckls04 06:19, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

I feel silly asking this, but is "fiver" supposed to refer to a high five? If so, I'd like to have a note of that inserted in brackets in the quotation. G Rose 07:51, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

No "fiver" is slang for a five pound noteSeizurebot1011 00:37, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

A fiver is a five pound note. A tenner is a ten pound note. No-one would say "Lemme borrow a fiver", they would just say "Lemme a fiver". I think the word "borrow" in the article is unneccessary and wrong. I am going to remove it 195.153.45.54 11:35, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Anarchist?

The article states: 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.

Could we have some citation for these two statements and perhaps an elaboration? Cheers. --Anarchodin 08:27, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

I've got some sources, and I'll ad some quotes and clarification now. ~Switch t 16:57, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
'Kay, I've done that now. Added two sources just to be safe, and a couple of quotes from Lemmy that clarify a little bit (they're pretty much the standard anarchist fare). Cheers. ~Switch t 17:27, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Rockin' Vicars

i created a nice little stubly-stub on his first band, if anyone is interested. Joeyramoney 19:17, 23 June 2006 (UTC) == Film Credits I've added (1988) The decline of western civilazation part 2: The Metal Years to the VHS Credits I don't know how this was missed but I feel it should definately be here Dave

[edit] Amplifier

Does Lemmy play through a guitar amp, or did Marshel make bass amps for a short time. I can't seem to find any information on the JMP Superbass II that Lemmy plays.216.124.244.119 21:37, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Broken Link

The link about Theoretical Origin of the Koopalings' Names is broken - Sick Boy (non registered user) 25 October 2006

Thanks, have removed. Couldn't find another source easily, so if the person who originally found this piece of trivia wants to find another source, good luck ;) Bubba hotep 18:35, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Devil's Arsehole

Hi all. This doesn't look right to me. Any thoughts?Is this quite right? "Lemmy was born in Devil's Arsehole, Staffordshire and raised in Anglesey, Wales. His father, a clergyman, left the family when Lemmy was three months old." ThanxTheriac 12:47, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

It was part of a vandalistic entry which was only partially reverted. It has been fully reverted now. Thanks for spotting that! (P.S. Lemmy may have referred to Burslem as that, I don't know) Bubba hotep 12:51, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Page five of White Line Fever (One of Lemmy's biographies), the Chapter entitled "Capricorn" begins with;

I started life in Stoke-on-Trent, in the West Midlands of England. Stoke consists of about six towns clustered together. Burslem was the nastiest, so it's only fitting that I was born there.

--Alf melmac 13:00, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Burslem the worst in Stoke? No way, not when compared to Longton :-) ThanxTheriac 13:38, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

From what I remember, Hanley isn't too hot either. Although the drink is cheap, and the women are... no, let's not go there... :) Bubba hotep 13:41, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
I'd agree "Hanley isn't too hot either", but it is the better part of the city! "the drink is cheap, and the women are... no, let's not go there... " Yes the the drink is cheap, and I did go there ... and came to regret it :-) Theriac 14:04, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] DRUGS

It's been stated in the past Lemmy needs to take speed, as per his doctor, for medical reasons. Why isn't this in the article?

Because it's not true? --Lancevortex 23:59, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pickups and playing

He uses the bridge pickup exclusively and turns everything on the bass up full.

This seems highly unlikely, as he has put Gibson Thunderbird pickups in the neck position on some of his previous basses. Also, he hits the strings in that area. So I don't understand why someone wrote that. Roda 16:29, 4 May 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Discography

Does this entry actually need to list every Motorhead realease - after all there is a perfectly good Motorhead Discography - surely it only needs to list the non-Motorhead releases. The only way this would be inaccurate is if there was a Motorhead release without Lemmy - which of course is impossible as I am sure he owns the name totally. --C Hawke 12:22, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


Do I take the silence as acceptance? If so when I have a free few minutes I will remove all Motorhead albulms from the list.--C Hawke 10:48, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

You can take this non-silence as acceptance of just using a decent link to the already quite fine Motorhead discography.--Alf melmac 08:15, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notable instruments

Do Lemmy's notable instruments really include the Minarik bass guitar? I've only ever known the Rickenbacker bass guitar (with slinky strings) for him.--Alf melmac 08:23, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Call him Lemmy Kilmister?

I honestly think the article should be re-named Lemmy Kilmister since, by and large, that is the name most people agree is his proper stage name. LuvataciousSkull 17:29, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

It was there, before someone decided that most commmon name is preferred. I don't mind where the page is at, as long as it's not me stuck fixing all the redirects after another page move (as usual) :) I think the principal reason is that his given name is not Lemmy Kilmister, it's Ian Kilmister and/or Ian Willis, so Lemmy Kilmister was not correct, as he's better known as just 'Lemmy' leaving here is sensible unless there's a better argument I'm missing.--Alf melmac 17:48, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
I guess it may be more a matter of personal preference, then. Most metalheads I know call him Kilmister, and he's credited as that on the Inferno album. The only thing I can think of is possibly a re-direct when people accidentally type in Lemmy Kilmister? LuvataciousSkull 18:46, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
Erm, I'm not sure I know enough metalheads to know what they call him :p Indeed, practically all credits on records are to 'Lemmy Kilmister'. Redirect is in place. By the way, it's nice to have new pair of eyes over the Motorhead material.--Alf melmac 19:16, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Physical Injury

This I am confident about, but I don't know when it happened. Can anyone provide a date?

Lemmy was once injured by a sharpened object (probably a coin) thrown by an irresponsible fan at a gig.

Later (in 1990), he launched a one-page polemic in Kerrang! magazine against the growing violence by fans at rock and metal gigs.

- Meltingpot

Meltingpot 12:39, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

It happened in Ljubljana, Slovenia (at that time Yugoslavia) on April 27 or 28, 1989. Roda 08:41, 11 October 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Discog tidy-up

I've tried tidying the discog section a bit. I'm not too familiar with post-"Ace of Spades" Lemmy, but I think it's now a lot tighter, the only real omission I can immediately think of is the album he guested on for the The Nolans. I've removed the following entries because they should be on the MH discog page:

  • 1992 – Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (Original Soundtrack) – contains "Hellraiser" and "Hell On Earth" by Motörhead
  • 1993 – The Damned – Tales From The Damned – (compilation), contains "Over the Top" by Motördam
  • 2001 – Twisted Forever – contains "Shoot 'Em Down" by Motörhead
  • 2001 – WWE: The Music, Volume 5 – contains "The Game" by Triple H and Motörhead
  • 2003 – Ash Wednesday (Original Soundtrack) – contains "Shoot 'Em Down" by Motörhead
  • 2004 – Metallica: The Ultimate Tribute Album – contains "Whiplash" by Motörhead
  • 2004 – The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Soundtrack – contains "You'd Better Swim" by Motörhead
  • 2006 – WWE Wreckless Intent: King Of Kings – contains "King Of Kings" (Triple H's theme) by Motörhead

Also removed these, as they're duplication – if we included reissues on compilation, I'm sure the list would be massive:

  • 2002 – Various artists – Guitar Greats – contains "Tie Your Mother Down" from the Queen tribute album
  • 2005 – Skew Siskin – Devil's Disciple (Compilation)

Drwhawkfan 10:33, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Page tidy-up

I formatted the page and moved a bit around, following the layout for a featured article, it makes clearer the weak sections and the strong sections and where we need to look to improve the article. I removed the following trivia, which had been tagged since September, which I couldn't easily place elsewhere in the article.

  • In the book The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rock Star, Nikki Sixx refers to Lemmy as Lemuel Pillmeister.
  • 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."[1]
  • 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".
  • Lemmy will lend his voice to a character known as The Kill Master in the upcoming, heavy metal-influenced action adventure video game Brütal Legend. The name of a character is possibly a pun on his surname Kilmister.

We need to date that Sid Vicious thing, it needs better write up and put into the biography section.--Alf melmac 13:26, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lemmy: Welsh or English?

I know he was born in England but he grew up in Wales; should he be considered English or Welsh? This is always a confusing thing seeing as there is no such thing as either English or Welsh citizenship, only British; Rod Stewart for example had Scottish parents but is considered English because he was born and raised in London. I guess this is gonna raise another argument on how to label anyone as either being English, Scottish, or Welsh. For example, if both of my parents are English but I grew up in Scotland, am I to be considered Scottish or English? However, back to the question at hand; is Lemmy Welsh or English? (I personally say Welsh). 205.246.153.217 (talk) 04:06, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

One solution is to call him British, another is to go with the flag identification that was on one of Motorhead's tour T-shirts, which (if I recall correctly) had an English flag (for Lemmy), a Welsh flag (for Phil) and a Swedish flag (for Mikkey), but that is on the assumption that Lemmy did actually authorise/want that as self-identification. He doesn't talk with a discernable Welsh accent even though his tender years were spent there. Lemmy himself doesn't seem to ally himself with the British either (does his move to America make him an American? :P) - "I've always liked America because it's ... eager. Whereas the British are resentful. They still haven't gotten over losing India. The British get on my tits all the time." - in a Guardian interview -

The only English kid in a Welsh school, he was bullied and himself became a bully. "We used to have this kid - we'd tie him up and burn him. With matches. I don't know why we did it, probably because he let us and he kept coming back."

although that does only refer directly to him as English when they talking about him in his youth. If both of your parents are English but you grew up in Scotland but were born in France, technically you'd be French, but you would be able to get a British passport, which agrees with my first solution, call him British.--Alf melmac 08:57, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Credits and naming of the article

On Doremi Fasol Latido he is listed as Lemmy the Lurch, and for "The Watcher" credited as I F Kilmister on the sleeve and Lemme Kilmister on the label. On Hall of the Mountain Grill, for "Lost Johnny" he is credited as Kilmister on the sleeve and Ian Kilminster (sic) on the label. On the "Kings of Speed" single, for "Motorhead" he is credited as Ian Kilminster (sic) on the label. On the CD remasters he is credited as Kilminster (sic), but as Ian Kilmister on The 1999 Party (this is the one that has pictures of the roadcrew wearing the "Lemmy a quid till Friday" t-shirts). On all of the Motorhead releases I have (up to Ace of Spades (album)), he is simply credited as Kilmister - I have never seen him receive a writer's credit as Lemmy. I think for his writer's credit on wikipedia, the first entry should list him as Lemmy Kilmister and subsequent entries simply as Kilmister.

For what it's worth, I tend to agree that this article would be better under Lemmy Kilmister - this is an encyclopaedia and simply referring to someone by their nickname seems a little immature to me, and besides, he is often referred to by this name: 367,000 google hits for lemmy kilmister. These issues need to be resolved and agreed upon once and for all, because some editors are understandably growing tired of them going back and forth.

Drwhawkfan (talk) 20:21, 24 February 2008 (UTC)


Drwhawkfan, thanks for that, as I mentioned at the top of the page, I was sure I had seen older stuff with "kilminster", but haven't had a chance to delve into the back of the loft to retrieve the vinyl to prove it. As you have, is it worth adding this common miss-spelling to the main entry? --C Hawke (talk) 21:29, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
Excellent work Drwhawkfan, that could easily be made into a worthwhile section of the article, no reason not to.
And indeed we do need to find consensus on the naming of the article as those who choose to move the page invariably leave the double redirects (which do at least need prompt attention) and the source of the redirects (which don't need prompt attention but would be more helpful if sorted on the page move). As this is a lengthy task to say the least, we should be clear whether this "most common name" is applicable here. As I said above one of the issues is that "Lemmy Kilmister" is not his birth name although I believe, like Drwhawkfan, that he is most commonly referred to in print as "Lemmy Kilmister" even if he more known to fans as "Lemmy", hence my earlier indecision about where to put this page. If I am pushed to fall anywhere I would go with "Lemmy Kilmister" even though it means a fair amount of work (again) in the tidy-up surrounding the move.--Alf melmac 12:49, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Lemmy is not a proper stand-alone stage name like Sting, Madonna, Prince, Iggy Pop or Judge Dread. It is his adopted first name, and one of his several nicknames. As has been pointed out above, he is never credited on his works as simply Lemmy, and I'm guessing that most serious articles and books about him use both his first and last name. Therefore, the title of the article should be Lemmy Kilmister. Spylab (talk) 15:54, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Alf, his birth name is "Ian Kilmister"; he never changed his first name to Lemmy, he is just called that as a whole name. I don't know why he's credited as "Kilmister" in the credits, but that's just another one of those instances where a musician is credited in the album credits by their birth name. It's the same case for former Motörhead guitarist Würzel, who's always credited as "Michael Burston", though I've never heard him recognized by that name, or Jake E. Lee (credited by birth name of "Jakey Lou Williams") or Vinnie Vincent (credited by birth name of "Vincent Cusano", or at least until he formed the Vinnie Vincent Invasion). My point is, you have to disregard the album credits when they give someone various names, or else it just gets confusing. If you go around listing every album credit like it does in the album with various names for certain people, it'll just confuse people. Wikipedia is supposed to be reader-friendly, and I don't see how that makes the articles any easier to read. I honestly don't know why he's sometimes known as Lemmy Kilmister, but, in my opinion, he's known well enough as just "Lemmy" to have the page be worthy of that title. He's commonly recognized by just that, and he's the one and only, so there's no one to get him confused with. Simple as that.
--Rock Soldier (talk) 22:35, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
I don't care if Rock Soldier doesn't know why he's credited as Kilmister - he's credited as Kilmister and that's both verifiable and the actual name in which the music is published. This is now the third time Rock Soldier has changed Kilmister to the unverifiable Lemmy without offering any justification except "My point is, you have to disregard the album credits". BTW, Ian Kilmister is his legal name, his birth name may well be Ian Willis. Drwhawkfan (talk) 12:25, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
Well, title of this page turned aside, I think that we should list him in the credits of articles as what he's listed as on the page. Otherwise, like I said, it's just confusing to the reader to have the same person listed by more than one name. If you still insist on the credits matching what it says in the albums, you add something in parenthesis saying "(as Lemmy Kilmister)" or something like that.
As for my justification? You saw what I wrote, I said a lot more than just "My point is, you have to disregard the album credits". Tell me how the rest of what I said doesn't work as justification.
--Rock Soldier (talk) 21:28, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
I think that we should clearly state in the track listings that attribution is as listed on the given object (single, EP, DVD or album [etc?]) but that it is clear from the article in prose who the writers were, that information should be clearly covered in the lead. When readers get to point where the track listing is they are not confused as Rock Solider fears they will be with the current arrangement. That can then include the misspellings that Drwhawkfan pointed out have happened for Lemmy on some of his appearances, I'd also want that pointed out in prose in the article, again there would be no confusion there, having passed the "as listed on the original vinyl" (or whatever) point.--Alf melmac 22:56, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
Oh, that is if there isn't a MoS that states it should be laid out in a standard way for all artists on records and the like.--Alf melmac 23:00, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
I'm just gonna say this: if we do end up deciding to change the naming to Lemmy Kilmister, it's gonna be up to someone to find every place where in every article where it says "Lemmy" and change it to either "Lemmy Kilmister" or just "Kilmister". And that means every use in every article. I noticed that Drwhawkfan has been changing a few instances of his name in various articles, but he's just been changing one or two of them, and leaving the rest of them as just "Lemmy". This is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. It's one or the other. I certainly won't be the one to go through every single article out there that mentions his name and do it, I don't know about the rest of you.
--Rock Soldier (talk) 03:46, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
Sorry, does this need to be done? IMHO on entries about LPs or tracks, the text should reflect what was printed on the relevant CD/LP. AS long as the link comes to this page does it matter?--C Hawke (talk) 07:11, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
Well, in most of the articles he's just referred to as "Lemmy", and if we move the page to "Lemmy Kilmister", it's only going to make sense to change his name in the articles to "Lemmy Kilmister" or just "Kilmister". Right?
--Rock Soldier (talk) 20:50, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

The advice given to me over at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Albums regarding the writer's credit issue is that we should quote the actual published name, but in the personnel section which lists the person by their commonly known stage/nick name, also note their legal name. So this would look like:

  1. "Motorhead" (Ian Kilmister)
  2. "Lost Johnny" (Kilmister)
  • Lemmy (Ian Kilmister) - bass and vocals

Can we all accept this solution? Drwhawkfan (talk) 10:03, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

That's fine with me. The "Kilmister" part of his name is part of his birth name, which he abandoned for the stage name of "Lemmy". The two parts of his birth name, "Kilmister" and "Ian", belong together, while his stage name of "Lemmy", by which he is often referred to unaccompanied by a surname, should remain singular. If the credits list a "Kilmister", it means an "Ian Kilmister", and if they list a "Lemmy", it means "Lemmy".
--Rock Soldier (talk) 00:03, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
I still think it's likelier that he was born Ian Willis (father's surname), then changed to Ian Kilmister (mother's surname) when any chance of reconciliation with his father failed early on in his career. Being born Ian Kilmister (father's surname), changing it Ian Willis (mother's surname) then back to Ian Kilmister doesn't make too much sense to me. Has anyone got any reliable cites for this, is it mentioned in his autobiography? Nevertheless, Ian Kilmister is his legal name and the name in which all his post-Sam Gopal works have been published. I do believe that he is credited as Lemmy Kilmister on the later Motorhead releases, perhaps Alf can shed more light on that. Drwhawkfan (talk) 14:49, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
Oh, OK, a simple google search has revealed this: "Lemmy's real name is Ian Fraser Willis, though he was Fraser Kilmister. Kilmister was the name of his father, a minister, but I think his parents parted and his mother married a former football pro, George Willis, who used to play for Bolton Wanderers."[2] Drwhawkfan (talk) 14:56, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sloppy?

"It's also been said Lemmy in invincible and will never die" Someone should fix this please.129.107.81.12 (talk) 07:13, 3 May 2008 (UTC)