Friends raise toast to Motorhead star Lemmy as ashes enshrined in London club
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Guitarist Phil Campbell said his late Motorhead bandmate Lemmy is “going to have a good view” of his favourite London club as some of his ashes were permanently laid to rest behind the bar. Singer and bassist Lemmy – real name was Ian Kilmister – was best known as the only continuous member of British rock band Motorhead, which he co-founded in 1975.
The rocker had suffered failing health since August 2015 and was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer on Boxing Day that year – just two days before he died. On Wednesday, some of his ashes were installed in an urn shaped like his trademark cavalry hat at the Stringfellows gentlemen’s club in London where he was “a regular” – guided by instructions in the British star’s will.
Campbell, who joined Motorhead as a guitarist in 1984 until the band disbanded in 2015 after the death of their bandmate, said he travelled from his home in Wales for the installation of the urn. “He’d love it,” Campbell told the PA news agency. “He’s going to have a good view, so it’s a great place to put some of his ashes to rest in London in Stringfellows, especially because he really enjoyed going there when he had a night off.
“Even when we were practising, in rehearsals, he’d be there ordering cabs to Stringfellows, I heard him many times.”. Campbell said the ceremony marks part of the Lemmy Forever! movement, which sees the rocker enshrined in many of his favourite spots around the world.
