As the tenth anniversary of Lemmy Kilmister’s passing approaches, new interviews with the Motörhead legend’s closest confidants are painting an even clearer picture of his final years: a man who stared down debilitating health issues with a stubbornness that was both darkly funny and, at times, nearly fatal.
In a special commemorative issue, Metal Hammer spoke with Lemmy’s manager and producer, who confirmed that the rock icon’s “fast and furious lifestyle” had begun to catch up with him, but his refusal to compromise remained ironclad.
Cameron Webb, who produced Motörhead’s albums from 2004 to 2015, recalled a terrifyingly close call during the pre-production for 2013’s Aftershock. Lemmy casually informed the team he needed a pacemaker, but insisted on delaying the vital surgery until his work was done.
“When we started [2013’s] Aftershock, Lemmy told us he was going to need to get a pacemaker put in after he finished recording,” Webb explained. “He’d seen a doctor, but he wanted to do a record first.”
When the band took a break in recording, Lemmy went for his consultation, only to discover the severity of his situation.
“So Lemmy goes away and sees his doctor, and the doctor is like, ‘Holy s**t! If you’d waited another week, you’d have died. We need to put this in today,’” Webb recalled. “It was supposed to be a one-day process originally, but he ended up in hospital for like two weeks. He’d almost died.”
This near-death experience did little to alter Lemmy’s legendary habits. His manager since 1992, Todd Singerman, pinpointed the start of his serious health issues to a diabetes diagnosis in the early 2000s, which led to a series of absurd “compromises.”
“What started all of this problem was the diabetes,” Singerman confirmed. “That’s when we had to try to get hm off booze. That was never going to happen.”
Instead, Lemmy made a concession that, in his mind, was healthier. “His compromise was vodka and orange juice,” Singerman said. “Orange juice is all sugar, but in his mind it was cleaner.”
Lemmy’s logic for dealing with medical advice was just as defiant. When doctors ordered him to hydrate, Lemmy found a loophole. “Doctors used to tell me, ‘He needs more water, more hydration.’ So the f**ker, in front of my face, put two more ice cubes in his drink,” Singerman recalled.
His dietary changes were similarly unconventional. “I said, Lemmy, you gotta start eating more vegetables,” Singerman added. “So he had sour cream and onion potato chips. in his mind, those were the vegetables.”
This refusal to slow down was a source of constant worry for his oldest friends. Dave Brock of Hawkwind, Lemmy’s former band, said he attempted to intervene.
“We did have that difficult conversation about slowing down,” Brock shared. “I sent him a text saying: ‘A live legend, a dead hero’.”
But the warning had little effect on the man who lived and died as the ultimate embodiment of rock and roll. “Flying around the world and the stress of playing concerts isn’t good for your body, but I don’t think he paid it too much attention,” Brock concluded.
