Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister Passes Away: We Reflect

Today (December 28), rock n’ roll lost one of its most iconic figures, Lemmy Kilmister. The Motörhead leader had turned 70 on Christmas Eve, but found out two days later that he was suffering from “an extremely aggressive cancer.”

Kilmister, who had recently struggled with his health but refused to pack it in, led Motörhead through 22 studio albums, including 2015’s Black Magic. While many will remember Kilmister for his legendary persona, hard-drinking, wry humour, hard-thumping bass and glorious gravel voice, I’ll forever remember the one-minute interview I had with him in Las Vegas back in 2013 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

At this event, Kilmister was on hand to help launch Motörheadphones, a line of Motörhead-branded and approved headphones designed to appeal to rock fans. During our brief conversation, Kilmister was in fine form, especially at the end when he asked me “What aspect of your shit do you like?” Incredibly nervous, I told him that I liked my shit when it came out. He offered a smirk and that was that. On a day like today, it’s hard not to look back at such a moment and think about how lucky you were to have a moment of time with a legend like Kilmister.

You can watch the video of our chat right here:

-Adam Grant

Official Statement from Motörhead:

“There is no easy way to say this…our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favorite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made it’s way down the street, with his family. 

We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.

We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please…play Motörhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD.
Have a drink or few.