Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister: Vampire of the Sunset Strip

Lemmy Kilmister may be the most indestructible rocker alive. At 63 years old, he still spends nearly every day he's not on tour swilling bourbon at West Hollywood's legendary rocker hangout the Rainbow Bar & Grill — and his band still plays about 150 shows a year. Rolling Stone's Mark Binelli put in some quality time at the Rainbow (and Kilmister's nearby apartment, stocked with a mind-blowing array of WWII and Nazi memorabilia) for a profile of Motörhead's singer/bassist in our new issue.

Go backstage with Motörhead on the band's 2008 European tour.

"The first time I ever saw Motörhead was on the Blizzard of Ozz tour," Slash tells RS. "I swear to God, it was the loudest thing I ever heard. They EQ'd it in a way to rip the top of your fucking head off." Ozzy Osbourne recalls that tour too: "[Lemmy] had a plaid bag with three books an a notepad. No change of clothes. His fucking rider was seven bottles of bourbon, eight bottles of vodka, two bottles of orange juice, and that's fucking it!"

Unsurprisingly, Lemmy has taken a path that's very unlike other rockers. Acknowledging his unusual journey, Kilmister tells RS, "I mean, I missed out on human relationships. But looking at relationships that I've seen along the way, I don't think I've missed much." Kilmister has let rock & roll be his guide since he was a kid learning Buddy Holly records in Wales, and in our profile Kilmister recounts joining (and leaving) legendary psych-rock band Hawkwind, attempting to teach Sid Vicious how to play the bass and the beginnings of Motörhead, which he conceived as a blend of Hawkwind, the MC5 and Little Richard.

For Binelli's full story, pick up the new issue, on stands now. And check out Rolling Stone's Q&A with Kilmister from last year, when the legend was celebrating the release of his band's 20th album, Motörizer.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter