So Long Lemmy: Hendrix Has His Roadie Back

Lemmy Kilmister was the real deal. He was 100% pure hard rock.

The death of Lemmy on December 28th didn't come as a shock to his long-time fans as Lemmy's health issues had already made the rounds through the media and on-line world. It was, nonetheless, a sad day.

What you may not be aware of is that Lemmy has some classic rock connections that go back to the late 60s. He was a roadie for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and shared a flat with Experience bassist Noel Redding. Not a bad way to start a career. Two years later he was in a short-lived band called Opal Butterfly. That was followed by a four-year stint with Hawkwind before forming the band that would make him a metal legend: Motörhead.

Thanks to constant touring and recording Lemmy and Motörhead built a rock-solid fan base by the end of the 70s. He would get his first taste of mainstream success at the turn of the next decade thanks to the Motörhead single "Ace of Spades" released in the fall of 1980.

Motörhead recorded a total of five more albums in the 80s and continued to tour solidly throughout the decade. In 1992 Lemmy contributed to Ozzy Osbourne's 'No More Tears' album by writing lyrics and music on four songs including "Mama I'm Coming Home". It would become a top 30 single, Ozzy's highest-charting song ever. That same year Lemmy and his band Motörhead recorded a song called "I Ain't No Nice Guy" featuring Ozzy on co-vocals and Slash on guitar. It's one of my favorite Motörhead songs.

With some money in his pocket and a solid place in metal history, Lemmy was on a roll by the end of the 90s. It only got better at the turn of the century as he was invited to enter the musical ring of professional wrestling. Lemmy and his band recorded "The Game", a song written by WWE music composer Jim Johnston. The song was used as the entrance theme for wrestler Triple H. Motörhead would perform this song live as Triple H made his entrance to the ring in two WrestleMania events.

I'd like to think that right now Lemmy is somewhere in rock & roll heaven wearing his favorite black cavalry hat with a big smile on his face. He's just been greeted at the pearly gates by Jimi Hendrix, congratulating him on a job well done.

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