As the rock world mourns the death of Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister yesterday (Dec. 29), the band's drummer Mikkey Dee is talking Lemmy's final months in a new interview. While he asserts that the band is essentially "over," as Kilmister was the only original member left, he gives the frontman a lot of credit for continuing on the last tour in the face of cancer.
"Motorhead is over, of course," drummer Mikkey Dee said to Swedish publication Expressen. "Lemmy was Motorhead. But the band will live on in the memories of many."
Dee additionally painted a portrait of Kilmister's health towards the end, saying, "He was terribly gaunt, he spent all his energy on stage and afterwards we was very, very tired. It's incredible that he could even play, that he could finish the Europe tour. It was only 20 days ago. Unbelievable."
Lost one of my best friends, Lemmy, today. He will be sadly missed. He was a warrior and a legend. I will see you on the other side.
— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) December 29, 2015
The band's last tour ended on Dec. 11 at the Max-Schmelinug-Halle in Berlin. As reported by fans at Setlist.fm, Motorhead closed out the concert with an encore of "Overkill," first performed by the band in 1979.
Kilmister died at the age of 70 after a short bout with cancer and it was confirmed late last night via Motorhead's official Facebook page. The band also confirmed to fans that he only found out his diagnosis on Dec. 26 and lost his battle to a particularly aggressive case quickly. Kilmister had also been afflicted by a hematoma as well as having to use an implantable defibrillator. His death came a mere month after the death of the original drummer Phil Taylor.
In an interview with Rolling Stone shortly before his death Kilmister said, "There's nobody now. There is going to be a huge hole, and nobody to step into it. I think it's important music. It's the constant music of this generation and the last one."
