Born on Christmas Eve 1945, founder of seminal English rock band Motörhead, Ian Fraser Kilminster, was the epitome of the 'live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse' rock n' roll myth. Of course, for all that soundbite's tongue-in-cheek impudence, the irony was Lemmy drew as much pleasure from living long as living fast. As he roared into the period of his life when you suspect a daily highlight for many of his onetime school friends would be settling into armchairs to watch daytime TV, Lemmy was still drawing massive crowds to listen to his band's unique take on full-throttle rock n' roll. Alas, four days after his 70th birthday, Lemmy succumbed to an aggressive form of cancer that was to take his life only 48 hours after diagnosis. He died at his home in L.A., playing his favourite computer game. The world of rock n' roll will universally mourn the loss of his larger-than-life persona. Lemmy was the affable guy who loved partying with fans, groupies and fellow rockers alike; a musician whose life spanned the dawn of rock n' roll in the late 50's, up to the Bring Me The Horizon generation who wear his t-shirts with pride. He lived and breathed his chosen path in life, from Hendrix roadie to maverick Hawkwind star to creator of Motörhead - the band that forged a template that has often been emulated, but never bettered. The term may be bandied about to the extent it can become glib and meaningless, but Lemmy truly was a star.
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