No Sleep 'til Hammersmith

Background:

“All I wanted to do was grow up and chase girls. I knew it was coming, but I wasn't old enough. I was just waiting for rock 'n' roll to be invented.” Lemmy

British singer, songwriter and bass guitarist Lemmy, born Ian Fraiser Kilmister, is most famous as the vocalist, bass player and founding member of the Grammy-winning hard rock/speed metal group Motörhead. Founded in the mid-1970s, the band attained the peak of their fame in the early 1980s with the albums “Ace of Spades” (1980) and “No Sleep 'til Hammersmith” (1981), which respectively rose to No. 4 and No. 1 on the U.K. album charts. They took home their first Grammy Award in 2005 for their cover of Metallica's “Whiplash.” Prior to his remarkable tenure with Motörhead, Lemmy played bass and sang lead vocals with Hawkwind (1971-1975) and was a guitarist in such unmemorable groups as The Rockin' Vickers and Sam Gopal. He has worked with numerous musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, Ugly Kid Joe and The Pirates, and appeared in many movies and TV shows. He released an autobiography called “White Line Fever” in November 2002.

Lemmy is a collector of Nazi memorabilia. The father of two sons was once reportedly bisexual, but the rumor proved to be false. He considers the Beatles, ZZ Top, Living Color and Janet Jackson as his favorite musicians

Lemmy the Lurch

Childhood and Family:

Ian Fraser Kilmister was born on December 24, 1945, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. He grew up in Anglesey, North Wales. The son of a priest, he was left by his religious father before his first birthday. He is known by the nickname Lemmy the Lurch.

Lemmy is the father of two sons, including musician Paul Inder.

Whiplash

Career:

Lemmy discovered a love for music when he was still young and took up guitar. During the 1960s, he served as a guitarist for numerous unnoticeable bluesy rock groups like Motown Sect, the Rainmakers, The Rockin' Vickers, Opal Butterfly and Sam Gopal. He also worked as a roadie for the celebrated American guitarist Jimi Hendrix in his 1967 U.K. tour. Lemmy continued to hone in on his musical talents with the rock band Hawkwind until he was kicked out because of drugs. During his tenure with the London-based group, he had an important part in building up the Hawkwind sound with his distinctive bass work and supplied lead vocals on many songs, most notably the Top 3 British hit “Silver Machine” (1972).

After his affiliation with Hawkwind ended, Lemmy formed a new band called “Motörhead” (previously “Bastard”) in 1975, with Lucas Fox on drums, Larry Willis on guitar, and Lemmy on bass, lead vocalist and songwriter. However, before the newly established band could achieve success, both Fox and Willis left the group and were later replaced by Phil Taylor and Eddie Clarke, respectively. With this classic trio lineup, Motörhead released a self-titled debut album in 1977 and the sophomore effort “Overkill” in 1979.

With the third album “Bomber” (also 1979), Motörhead broke U.K.'s Top 20 hits and rose to #12. The album spawned the songs “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Stone Dead Forever” and the title track. Lemmy and his group, however, did not enjoy a huge breakthrough until they launched “Ace of Spades” in 1980, which is considered one of the best metal albums and has become an importantly powerful hard rock classic. The album rose to #4 on the U.K. album charts. By the time Motörhead released their first live album, “No Life 'Til Hammersmith,” which debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. charts, the heavy metal group had become one of the most popular and influential metal bands in the world.

Since then, Lemmy has continued to perform with Motörhead and became the only constant member of the group, which now also includes guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee (both joined the group in 1995). After “No Sleep 'til Hammersmith,” the group produced no less than 20 albums, including “Kiss of Death” (2006) and “Better Motörhead than Dead: Live at Hammersmith” (2007) and netted a Grammy in 2005 for Best Metal Performance for their cover of Metallica's “Whiplash.”

Aside from his work with Motörhead, Lemmy has collaborated with numerous other musicians. In the Ozzy Osbourne album “No More Tears” (1991), he co-wrote such popular tracks as “Hellraiser,” “Don't Want to Change the World,” “Desire” and “Mama I'm Coming Home.” He also made guest appearances on other artists' albums like Ugly Kid Joe's “Motel California” (1996), Skew Siskin'a “What The Hell” (1999), The Pirates' “Rock Bottom” (2001) and Ace Sounds's “Still Hungry” (2003). Outside of music, Lemmy is an occasional actor. Making his debut in the 1987 comedy “Eat the Rich,” where he played Spider, he landed roles in such movies as “Hardware” (1990), “Airheads” (1994), “Frezno Smooth,” “Terror Firmer” (both 1999), “Down and Out with the Dolls” (2001), “The Curse of El Charro” (2005) and “Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead” (2006). On the small screen, he has made a number of appearances on shows like the cult British series “The Young Ones” (1984), “The Girlie Show” (1997) and “100 Most Metal Moments” (2004).


Awards:

• Grammy: Best Metal Performance, “Whiplash,” 2005