I never heard of the dude until he died. I hated metal my whole life so I did some cursory research on him and the various iterations of metal, including the history and folklore.

Committed music. The power chords, the percussion, the sub verbal guttural voices, the volume. The whole shot.

Conclusion: 'Whatever.'

What I do find fascinating is the connection between metal and classical. Yep classical, like my beloved Beethoven. Go figure.

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FWIW: Inside Lemmy's Last Days | Rolling Stone

Head and neck cancer.

From NIH :<snip>

Head and neck cancers are cancers that start in the tissues and organs of the head and neck. They include cancers of the larynx (voice box), throat, lips, mouth, nose, and salivary glands.

Most types of head and neck cancer begin in squamous cells that line the moist surfaces inside the head and neck (for example, the mouth, nose, and throat).

Tobacco use, heavy alcohol use, and infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) increase the risk of many types of head and neck cancer.

Lemmy was more than just the music.

He was a fascinating individual, an icon.

The last dinosaur of an era he had a significant hand in creating.

There is a documentary Lemmy: The Movie

You see a lot of his apartment in LA.

It's a 2 bedroom dump that he's lived in for decades but the guy is worth 10's of millions of dollars.

He likes the place because it's down the street from The Rainbow which has a video poker machine he likes to play for hours on end.

And he went deaf with just acoustic instruments. Poor guy.

Not to make us all feel old...but that was over 30 YEARS ago!

I saw them around 1996 in Chicago, ended up at Exit after the show, and so did the band! Sitting at a crowded biker bar doing shots with Lemmy telling stories to all of us is a highlight of my punk years...
We got to see them here about 6 years ago in a 1500 person club, when Matt Sorum of the Cult was standing in on drums. Still the loudest thing I've ever experienced, we had 30Db earplugs in and still were in pain.

I get that - I see why Motorhead isn't for everyone. But man, when it's your bag, nothing tops them.

The connection between metal and certain types of classical is very close, particularly Beethoven. Music reflects many emotions, from peace and joy to aggression and anger. Beethoven wrote across that scale, but probably spent more time at the aggression and anger end of it than, say, Mozart or Debussy. I don't know if Peter's comment was tongue-in-cheek, but he's spot on. I guarantee if electric guitars were around in the 19th century, Beethoven would've been all over them, like most composers are today.

Check on some of his quotes - guy was pretty well read and offers a lot of crude wisdom! :) Old school rock star stuff.

The Tao of Lemmy: 18 Great Quotes From the Motorhead Frontman | Rolling Stone

I don't think you'll get into Motorhead if your favorite music is Beethoven. Just saying ...

"We are Motorhead and we play Rock & Roll!". :)

I have big regrets never having seen the band. They were BIG in Europe. I saw most of the 80s bands but missed out on them, unfortunately.

G

I've been a fan for as long as I could remember. To me, the band shared the same "no frills, stand and deliver" ethos of the punk scene that I closely followed! Double middle fingers and f_ck off to the establishment! Now, I'm posting this on a Porsche BBS!

I caught the last 45 minutes of the live feed. Pretty cool to see such big names in music paying tribute to Lemmy. I can bet there will be many great stories told at the after party!

Am I the only one that got the petition on social media to rename the jack and coke the "Lemmy"?
-Todge

Huge petition in the UK to name the next addition to the periodic table "Lemmium"

I was having a few beers with some mates the other night and we could not name one modern day hell raiser. They have all gone or gone soft. I cannot think of any of the current crop of musicians that lives like Lemmy lived. Can you?

You've never heard of....Motorhead? I don't listen to metal either, but this guy is an icon. You Amish? :D

It's how that game works. Addicts go to jail (obscurity) or in the ground sooner than average.