Metal gods don't get more badass than Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister. A roadie for Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd in the '60s, Hawkwind's bassist in the early '70s and the throat, bassist and force behind Motörhead since 1975, Lemmy has kicked ass for longer than metal's existed.
Other than Watchmen, I can't think of a movie that I'm anticipating as much as Lemmy: The Movie.
I can't stop watching that trailer or sending it to friends. What a badass. Slash, Dave Grohl, Steve Vai, Mick Jones (the cooler one), Alice Cooper...watch 'em all bow down to Lemmy. Stick around for Lem's joke at the end.
Motörhead tour and release albums annually, all of which defy criticism by consistently being relentlessly louder than loud and faster than fast (with one or two curveballs,) and by being awesome every-single-time. Motörhead is the harbinger of everything punk and metal, and have been at the forefront since their first album (initially considered unreleasable in the US.) Lemmy turns 63 this year and shows no signs of slowing down from his life of tour buses, Jack Daniels, unfiltered cigarettes and loose women. To paraphrase Warren Zevon, he's gotten to be Jim Morrison for a lot longer than Jim Morrison did. That's if Jim Morrison were a badass, unpretentious, innovative and really ugly metal god.
Just as there's no way to imagine Keith Richards being uncool or Andrew W.K. being lethargic, there's no way for Lemmy to not be badass. This is almost summed up in a Steve Buscemi line from Brendan Fraser's most underrated movie, Airheads.
Best of all, Lemmy totally doesn't care. I remember one time he appeared in a Kit Kat commercial, and was asked if he worried about ruining his badass reputation. "No," said Lemmy. "I've got nothing against chocolate."
Of course he wouldn't worry about his reputation--there's nothing he could do to not be badass. This is a guy who once broke a Rickenbacker over someone's head because it "Felt right." His autobiography, White Line Fever, reads like an unapologetic, one-man account of The Dirt. He's never bickered with the band and came back for a lucrative reunion tour, never fell victim to gimmickry, never made an MTV-ready power ballad, never gave his infamous mug (a fu manchu w/two warts the size of golf balls) a Hollywood makeover, never cashed in on hair metal or nu metal, never put his home life on a reality TV show, never sued a file-sharing service or filmed himself going through therapy...
Lemmy thrives on the road, rocks out every time around, and can sell out venues all over the world despite never having a radio hit or platinum-selling album. His gravelly larynx and machine-gun bass tactics have launched thousands of humble imitators. No punk or metal legend has aged so well. None more badass. None more Lemmy. Death, taxes and Lemmy.
But if you really want to know why Lemmy is so badass...check out Motörhead 's new song, "Runaround Man."
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