Lemmy Kilmister

Lemmy was born Ian Fraser Kilmister in the Burslem area of Stoke-on-Trent on 24 December 1945. When he was three months old, his father, an ex-Royal Air Force chaplain and concert pianist, separated from his mother. Lemmy was their only child. He moved with his mother and grandmother to nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme, then to Madeley. When he was 10, his mother married former rugby player George L. Willis, who already had two older children from a previous marriage, Patricia and Tony, whom Ian disliked. They later moved to a farm in the village of Benllech on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, with Lemmy commenting that "funnily enough, being the only English kid among 700 Welsh ones didn't make for the happiest time, but it was interesting from an anthropological point of view". He attended Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, a comprehensive school in Amlwch, where he was nicknamed "Lemmy." It was later suggested by some that the name originated from the phrase "lemmy [lend me] a quid 'til Friday" because of his alleged habit of borrowing money from people to play slot machines, although Lemmy himself said that he did not know the origin of the name. He soon started to show an interest in rock and roll, girls, motorbikes and horses. …

At the age of 17, Lemmy met a holidaying girl named Cathy. He followed her to Stockport, where she gave birth to his son Sean, who was put up for adoption. In the 2010 documentary film Lemmy, he mentioned having a son whose mother had only recently reconnected with him and "hadn't got the heart to tell him who his father was." Later, during his time with the Rockin' Vickers, he slept with a woman in Manchester named Tracy; she had a son, Paul Inder, whom Lemmy met six years later. As an adult, Inder became a guitarist and occasionally joined Lemmy on stage. Lemmy lived in Los Angeles from 1990 until his death in 2015, his last residence being a two-room apartment two blocks away from his favourite hangout, the Rainbow Bar and Grill. In the 2005 Channel 4 documentary Motörhead: Live Fast, Die Old, it was claimed that Lemmy had slept with over 2,000 women. He later quipped, "I said more than 1,000; the magazine made 2,000 of it." Maxim had Lemmy at No. 8 on its top ten "Living Sex Legends" list, as they claimed that he had slept with around 1,200 women. He is featured in the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars (2010) by Paul Miles. Dave Grohl, on his Probot website, describes musicians with whom he has worked. In his entry for Lemmy, he wrote:

We recorded [Lemmy's] track in Los Angeles in maybe two takes about a year and a half ago. …

In December 2000, Lemmy's tour was cancelled when he was hospitalised in Italy with the flu, exhaustion, and a lung infection. He was hospitalised with extreme dehydration and exhaustion in Germany in July 2005. As he grew older, he consumed less alcohol and drugs because he suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. In June 2013, it was reported that he had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator fitted. His tour was cancelled in July 2013 due to a severe haematoma. He referred to his continuing drug use as "dogged insolence in the face of mounting opposition to the contrary". Towards the end of his life, he had to use a walking stick. He had started smoking at the age of 11. In August 2015, he said he had cut down his smoking habit from two packs a day to one pack a week. He was hospitalised with a lung infection in September 2015, after having breathing problems when performing onstage. On 28 December 2015, Lemmy died at his Los Angeles apartment from prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia, and congestive heart failure. He was 70 years old. Motörhead announced his death on their official Facebook page later that day. According to the band, his cancer had only been diagnosed two days prior to his death. Lemmy's manager, Todd Singerman, later revealed:

He [Lemmy] gets home [from tour], we have a big birthday party for him at the Whisky a Go Go. …