Motorhead frontman, hard-rock hero ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister dies

LOS ANGELES – Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, the Motorhead frontman whose outsized persona made him a hero for generations of hard-rockers and metalheads, has died.

Kilmister, 70, died on Monday in Los Angeles after a brief battle with aggressive cancer, according to his agent, Andrew Goodfriend.

Known simply as “Lemmy” to most, he was as famous for his mustache, mutton chops and the mole on his face as he was for his music.

But he was deeply respected and revered as a rock master and innovator, from his time with the seminal psychedelic band Hawkwind in the early 1970s to his four decades in Motorhead, best known for their 1980 anthem “Ace of Spades.”

The band announced Kilmister’s death on its Facebook page.

“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 it’s way down the street, with his family.

“We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.”

Born on Christmas Eve, 1945, in Staffordshire, England, Kilmister founded Motorhead in 1975.

“I was fired out of every other band I was ever in, so I had to start my own group,“ Kilmister told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. “They couldn’t fire me out of that.“

Its bassist and lead singer ever since, Kilmister was royalty even among fellow rockers.

Ozzy Osbourne called him “one of my best friends.”

“He will be sadly missed,” Osbourne wrote on Twitter late Monday. “He was a warrior and a legend. I will see you on the other side.”

Tall and lanky, with his distinct look, “Lemmy” lived rock music – he was a regular at Sunset Strip rocker hangout The Rainbow and never stopped recording and performing. And he wasn’t just culturally revered, he was critically acclaimed: Motorhead won a Grammy for 2004’s best metal performance.

Kilmister had suffered numerous health issues in recent months.