Motörhead Front Man “Lemmy” Kilmister Passes Away At 70

Tonight the rock community has suffered a major loss with the death of  Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister at the age of 70 “after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer,” according to a Facebook post on the official Motörhead page. The front man of the legendary metal band had was known for years of hard living, but the news comes as somewhat of a surprise as Lemmy had just celebrated his 70th birthday this past Thursday on December 24th and had recently given a handful of interviews talking about making healthier adjustments to his rock and roll lifestyle:

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Back in September of this year we reported that Lemmy had to pull the brakes on a show in Austin, Texas only three songs in, announcing “I can’t do it” before leaving the stage. This was one of several shows on Motörhead’s most recent tour that was cancelled due to health issues, but there was no mention of cancer as Lemmy blamed his “sickness” on the altitude of cities he was due to play.

The mutton-chopped Kilmister leaves behind a massive legacy as a gravelly-voiced bass player behind a band that has had a major influence on heavy metal and rock and roll. Even as they celebrated their 40th anniversary this year Motörhead sounded no less brutal than they did when they first came onto the scene. Kilmister was also a member of the psychedelic space rock band Hawkwind before forming Motörhead. You can read the entire Facebook post on his passing below:

“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.