Motörhead Frontman Dies 2 Days After Diagnosis

Lemmy Kilmister was 70
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 29, 2015 1:22 AM CST
Updated Dec 29, 2015 6:00 AM CST
Motörhead Frontman Dies at 70
Mot?rhead bassist Lemmy Kilmister performs at the Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2015, at Worthy Farm, Glastonbury, England.   (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

The rock world is mourning Lemmy Kilmister, the hard-living Motörhead frontman who once seemed almost indestructible. Lemmy, as his legions of fans knew him, discovered he had cancer on Saturday—just two days after his 70th birthday—and died on Monday, the BBC reports. The British-born rocker, a former Jimi Hendrix roadie, formed Motörhead in 1975 when he was kicked out of Hawkwind after a drug bust in Canada. "Our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer," the band said on its Facebook page. "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."

Lemmy, who made a total of 22 albums with Motörhead, including the 1980 classic "Ace of Spades," rocked—and partied—as hard as anybody in the business, though despite the band's massive influence on thrash metal and other genres, he never cared for the term "heavy metal," feeling more kinship with punk bands like The Damned, reports the CBC. Health problems didn't slow him down much in later years: The band completed a North American tour in September and was due to begin a European one in January. In August, he told the Guardian that death was the only thing that could stop him. "As long as I can walk the few yards from the back to the front of the stage without a stick," he said. "Or even if I do have to use a stick." (We also lost "Louie Louie" singer Jack Ely this year.)

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