In a recent interview with Sky News, former Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell opened up about the late Lemmy Kilmister and his biggest wish about the band.
“He was a great man, Lemmy,” he said. “He was a true pioneer. Him and Little Richard are the real, true big rock and rollers, in my opinion. He lived his life for his own way. 95 percent of the things he did, he’d done his way. And he cared a lot about the fans and he cared a lot about the music.”
“And when he formed Motörhead, he told me, he basically just wanted to form an unforgettable rock and roll band,” Campbell revealed his late bandmate’s wish. “So I think he achieved his wish there, definitely, with that. But never a day goes by when I don’t think about him. He’s just one of them unbelievable characters, really. He was intelligent, kind, had lots of empathy for people and all that, very humorous. And there’s not many guys like that about, or people like that about anymore. So it’s great for him to be remembered, and he definitely will be remembered all over the world.”
Motörhead had to cancel several shows in 2015 because of Lemmy’s poor health, but they did manage to finish their European tour a few weeks before he died.
More than a year ago, Campbell was asked by Myglobalmind if he and his bandmates knew ‘things were not going well’ when they had to cancel shows due to Lemmy’s declining health before his death.
“Yeah, we knew, but Lem wanted to just carry on then,” Campbell responded. “I know the last tour in Germany, I think one or two shows were canceled ’cause I ended up in hospital. And I came back out and we finished the tour. And that was the last tour then; the last show was in Berlin. So the last week of Motörhead, actually I was the one in bloody hospital.”
He added: “But we never thought — when we parted at the end of the tour, we never thought that would be the last time we’d see each other. We didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, me or Mikkey [Dee, Motörhead drummer], or nothing. I couldn’t even go over to the funeral, ’cause my doctor advised me not to, ’cause I was pretty ill myself in them days.”
In June 2020, it was announced that Lemmy would be the subject of a biopic. The film, titled ‘Lemmy,’ will be directed by Greg Olliver. Olliver also directed the 2010 documentary of the same name.