Just in time to make the '2015 obituaries list', we learn of the death of Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister, the rock-and-roll juggernaut who fronted the space rock band Hawkwind and the heavy metal band Motörhead, after a shockingly brief fight with cancer. Lemmy was one of those rare individuals who could make a neighborhood bicycle ride sound both cosmic and menacing:
Back in high school, my smartass friend Spike and I requested the DJ at a school dance to play Iron Fist, but his succinctly reply was, "No Motörhead tonight, boys."
I figure the greatest tribute to Lemmy is to blast his signature growl at high volume, with perhaps Killed by Death being the most appropriate showcase for it on this sad morning:
The metal world lost a titan, and the suddenness of Lemmy's death (he was diagnosed with cancer on the 26th) boggles the mind. Lemmy had a good, long run in an industry that seems to chew up young lives at an alarming rate. He lived the most rock-and-roll of rock-and-roll lifestyles, and lived to be old enough to earn a pension, but generations of metal fans will miss him none-the-less. Rest in peace, Lemmy, but not in quiet.
There is documentary proof that Mr Kilmister will still be alive in the post-apocalyptic future, piloting a cab through the canals of flooded New York, so this must be some sort of mistake.
ReplyDeleteThere is documentary proof that Mr Kilmister will still be alive in the post-apocalyptic future, piloting a cab through the canals of flooded New York, so this must be some sort of mistake.
ReplyDeleteStill time for him to ride a motorcycle out of the ground...
I was introduced to Lemmy and Hawkwind and Motorhead, long ago and far away, by my British boyfriend, he and Lemmy, brought me back from the dead, after being widowed.
That's a touching story. Music has a tremendous power to heal and sustain one.
A couple of decades ago, my colleague Miltdown Man had to leave a Motorhead concert prematurely (on account of discovering during the interval that someone had stabbed him in the lower back in an attempt to remove his kidney). The band came to hear of this -- perhaps they noticed the ambulance and the flashing lights -- and went to visit Miltdown the next day in hospital, bearing gifts of whisky. Truly a band of gentlemen.
ReplyDeleteNow I must watch "The Decline of Western Civilisation, Pt. II" for the sake of Lemmy's appearance therein.
R.I.P. Lemmy. (Rock In Peace)
ReplyDelete~