Motorhead

Motorhead

Formed in England in 1975 by leader Lemmy (Ian to his mom) Kilmister, the onetime Jimi Hendrix roadie (nicknamed “Lemme” because he had the habit of asking everyone “Lemme a fiver”) first came to notoriety as bassist for the tribal acid goofs, Hawkwind. During that time, Lemmy wrote the now famous anthem “Motorhead,” and held onto the title when he was given the boot by Hawkwind. Teaming up with drummer Lucas Fox and ex-Pink Fairies guitarist Larry Wallis, Motorhead was in session. Unanimously proclaimed "the world’s worst band” by every critic in the world, Lemmy immediately realized he was onto something big. After a jillion line-up changes and several bizarre albums (On Parole, Motorhead, Overkill, Bomber, The Golden Years, Ace of Spades, No Sleep Til Hammersmith, Iron Fist, Another Perfect Da'/), Motorhead now consists of the dual-guitar blast of Phil Campbell and an ex-army corporal called Wurzel Phil, ex-Saxon pounder Pete Gill, Brian Robertson, and, of course, Lemmy.

Known to produce as much as 126 decibels in their live shows (ouch!), Motorhead excels the best at pummeling your eardrums into soft, gooey masses. Giving a whole new (and much more accurate) meaning to “head banging,” the loudest band in the universe still goes unchallenged despite some pretty good attempts on the part of Megadeth. Despite the band’s clear preoccupation with violence and bikers, Lemmy is known to have a “funny side,” probably made the most apparent when he teamed with Wendy O. Williams for a heavy metal version of “Stand By Your Man.” (The incident is said to have been the cause of guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clark’s departure—he wasn’t amused.) Of their latest album Orgasmatron, Lemmy says: “It’s about religion, war and politicians.. .sorta.”