Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister died earlier Monday, December 28 at the age of 70.
The surviving members of Motörhead said in a statement: “There is no easy way to say this… Our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favorite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made its way down the street, with his family.
“We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.
“We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please… play MOTÖRHEAD loud, play HAWKWIND loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD. Have a drink or few. Share stories. Celebrate the LIFE this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself. HE WOULD WANT EXACTLY THAT.
“Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister 1945 -2015. Born to lose, lived to win.”
Lemmy, who just turned 70 years old on December 24, dealt with some serious health issues recently, forcing him to scale back on alcohol and kick his cigarette habit. Lemmy had been hit by numerous health issues over the past few years, most recently this summer, when a lung infection forced six shows to either be curtailed shortly after taking the stage or canceled outright. In 2013, he suffered a hematoma and had been fitted with a defibrilator to correct heart problems.
The rock icon recently claimed that he was doing just fine and was people to stop asking about his health.
He told Classic Rock: “I’m sick of the fucking, ‘Are you going to die?’ line of questioning. It’s getting really old, that question. I’m alright. I’m going out there and doing my best. I have good days and bad days but mostly I’ve been doing alright. The last tour of the States was very good.”
“It’s when you get to 60 when everything starts to go pear-shaped. Everyone thinks that becoming an older guy is easy, but you never consider it fully. It comes as quite a shock. But the thing is, I don’t want to give in to it.”
Read more at Blabbermouth.net.