Lemmy Kilmister: Behind wild tales about Motorhead frontman was a driven musician

Transatlantic heavy metal titans paid damp-eyed tributes to 'a real gentleman' and 'the true spirit of rock’n’roll'

Motörhead frontman Lemmy was the rock star’s rock star (EPA)

With his cavalry hat that bore the insignia “Death or Glory,” his Iron Cross medallion, his custom-made boots, black shirt, tight black jeans and two facial pustules that poked from his cheek like extra fingertips, Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilminster of Motörhead looked like no other rock star.

He fixed his microphone at an acute angle so that he always sang towards the ceiling, with his Adam’s apple pointing at the crowd.

His shouty, belligerent growl echoed his snarling basslines. He downed a bottle of Jack Daniels daily from the age of 30, smoked like Mount Etna, snorted cocaine like a Dyson and reportedly slept with 1,200 women. He seemed hell-bent on destruction. Journalists who interviewed him emerged from the encounter mentally shaken.

A Melody Maker hack was told that Lemmy had to be in Sheffield in two hours but would give the scribe a lift. On the M1, the journalist watched the speedometer creep past 95, noted the great musician’s snarl of concentration at the wheel and nervously asked what he was thinking. “I was thinking,” grated Lemmy, “if this new album doesn’t go to No 1, I’m gonna bite my cock off.”

Lemmy pictured in 2000 (Tom Pilston)

When his death at his home in West Hollywood was announced, transatlantic heavy metal titans paid damp-eyed tributes to “a real gentleman” and “the true spirit of rock’n’roll”.

Lemmy was a friendly, approachable, gregarious man. But his reputation as a deranged, self-punishing, Nazi-loving (he collected Third Reich memorabilia) shag-monster tends to eclipse more subtle judgements.

He was arrested in Canada in 1975 for possessing cocaine and spent five days in jail, but was released when the police discovered it was speed; whereupon his band, Hawkwind, fired him (they were keener on LSD). Lemmy took revenge: “I came home from America and fucked all their old ladies. Except for [Hawkwind frontman Dave] Brock’s. I couldn’t get his. I had a good time with all them chicks – they were really eager.”

There’s a frankly incredible story that he enjoyed an orgy with all five of the wholesome Nolan Sisters one afternoon, backstage at Top of the Pops.

And another about his reaction to the news that an “action figurine” would be available for fans. Lemmy recalled: “They said, ‘It’s an action figure’ and I said, ‘So, you gonna put a dick on it?’ They said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Well, then it’s not going to get much action, is it?’”

Behind the wild tales, though, was a driven musician who guested on 100 albums and videos for bands from The Damned to the Foo Fighters, while maintaining that he played rock’n’roll, not punk or heavy metal. He liked the company of the rock fraternity: his later years were spent (when not on the road) in the Rainbow Room and Bar on Sunset Strip, shooting the breeze with friends from Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses. It was a kind of Valhalla, a mead-hall of rock gods. Not a bad conclusion for a spotty English kid from Stoke.