LOS ANGELES -- Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister, the mutton-chopped, mustachioed, chainsaw-voiced heavy metal giant who founded, fronted and wrote all the music as the bassist for the mayhem that was Motörhead, has died. He had just turned 70.
Lemmy, whose birthday was Christmas Eve, was battling cancer, according to a Monday post to the band's Facebook page.
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));There is no easy way to say this…our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely...Posted by Official Motörhead on Monday, December 28, 2015
His death was first reported by radio personality Eddie Trunk:
Sorry to report that I have confirmed Lemmy @myMotorhead has passed away just now at the age of 70. RIP to a true original icon of rock.— Eddie Trunk (@EddieTrunk) December 29, 2015
And it didn't take long for word to spread, as rock royalty bowed their heads for one of the last gentle giants of heavy metal's heydey.
Lost one of my best friends, Lemmy, today. He will be sadly missed. He was a warrior and a legend. I will see you on the other side.— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) December 29, 2015
Lemmy's was a tough and knockaround childhood in England and Wales, where he saw the Beatles as a teen and soon was learning their songs on guitar. He'd stick with rhythm guitar until 1972, when he picked up a bass for the space-rock band Hawkwind, which fired him in 1975 following a drug-possession arrest in Canada.
He started fresh to form what would become Motörhead, with guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor on board for the band's rise to prominence. Though they would have more influence on heavy metal than any band their time, Lemmy always insisted that Motörhead played "rock and roll," an oft-repeated phrase for the larger-than-life frontman.
And who among us would argue with him?
Motörhead peaked around 1980 with the album Ace of Spades and its blistering title track. Lemmy toured and played for years, his last credited recording being just last year, as a guest musician for the European alt-metal band Emigrate.
Lemmy's legendary substance use -- booze and speed were his drugs of choice -- was as much a part of his personae as the the leather, the rings, and the aggressive singing position created by his trademark high-placed microphone.
As the paterfamilias of Motörhead, he did as he pleased, but had a reputation as a sweetheart and was widely beloved in rock, metal, punk and beyond, becoming a pop culture touchstone who embodied rambunctious defiance known as, well ... "rock and roll."