“Sex, drugs, and rock & roll, that was Lemmy,” Ozzy Osbourne says as he remembers his good old friend Lemmy Kilmister, who sadly passed away on December 28th, 2015.
Ozzy and Lemmy shared a close friendship that spanned decades with Ozzy being one of the few musicians who knew the legendary singer-songwriter from his early day in Hawkwind through four decades of Motörhead.
“I met him when he was in Hawkwind. We used to rehearse in the same place in England. And then he formed Motörhead, they were like the pirates of the rock business.” – Ozzy Osbourne talking about Lemmy.
They knew they would be good friends for life. Throughout their career in the spotlight, they toured together and wrote hits like Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “See You on the Other Side” and the Grammy-winning “I Don’t Want to Change the World” together.
In a conversation with the BBC radio station, Ozzy recalls just how amazing Lemmy was, as not only was he such a talented person but was a great friend as well. Later on, he goes on to say, ” You look at people like Lemmy and you think, ‘Oh, he’s a yob.’ But he was very well-educated.”
Osbourne was in shock after learning about Kilmister’s passing away. Lemmy died in 2015 at the age of 70, shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Ozzy talked about a variety of wide issues and opened up to the media as he remembered the final words Lemmy had said to him.
“I think about Lemmy all the fucking time,” Ozzy stated. “He was a great guy. He’d go, ‘That record you just made was fucking shit,’ or ‘I really like that one.’
Ozzy continued, “His favorite [line] was, ‘Your best record was No More Tears’. ‘Yeah, because you wrote on it, you cunt!’
Remembering Lemmy, Ozzy goes on, “I went down to South America and he was there on tour,” he continued, “But he was so fucked he couldn’t speak to anyone. He was sitting at the front, skinny as a rake. He was riddled with cancer at the end.
As he speaks, Ozzy remembers the last word that the heavy metal legend said, “But mind you, he turned round to me and said ‘I’m probably going to die, I suppose. Never thought I’d make 70, so I did good’. His exact words were, ‘I could have lived a lot longer and taken care of myself, but I lived my life the way I want to live and I ain’t got no regrets’. Fair enough”.
In another interview, he pours out his heart on just how much Lemmy meant to him and what a great person he was. He says, “You know what? There goes a hero for me. He was my hero. He was fucking great, a good friend. I’m missing him already. I’ll never forget him. I don’t think a lot of people will forget Lemmy. He’ll be so missed in my camp. He was a good guy, a good man, a good friend of mine. He was just a fucking great dude, man. Not enough time for him. God bless you, Lemmy. I’m so honored to have you a part of my life.”
1 Comment
What a loss!