R.I.P. to The Greats, 2016 is barely in fully swing, and the world has already had to bid a gut-wrenching farewell to some of the entertainment industry’s most influential people. The two names that have hit the world the hardest so far are Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, as well as Ziggy Stardust himself, Mr David Bowie.
Here’s a look at some of the rock and roll legends that the world has laid to rest over the last month.
Lemmy Kilmister
This slew of untimely celebrity deaths began on that fateful day of December 28th, 2015, with the passing of metal genius Lemmy Kilmister, front man of the band Motörhead.
Born on Christmas Eve in 1945 in Staffordshire, England, Ian Fraser Kilmister (aka Lemmy) was probably best known for his gruff, gravely voice and those epic mutton chops that he relentlessly donned upon his facebone. In his early years, Lemmy grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales, where he was influenced by the early rock n roll legends such as the Beatles, which subsequently led him to play in several rock bands throughout the 60s, including the Rockin’ Vickers. His bemutton-chopped face also made an appearance as roadie for the likes of Jim Hendrix and the Nice, before moving on to format part of the space rock band Hawkwind in 1971. After being fired from Hawkwind, Lemmy then wet on to create the band Motörhead, leading the charge as lead vocalist, bassist, songwriter and front man, and catapulting the band to success in the early 80s, with notable hits Silver Machine and Ace of Spades.
In August of 2015, Motörhead had released their 22nd studio album, Bad Magic. At the time of Lemmy’s death, the band had been busy with their The World is Yours tour, with the band’s final live performance in Berlin on 11 December 2015.
Motörhead had announced on their official Facebook page on 28 December 2015, four days after his 70th birthday, that Lemmy had died at his Los Angeles home from an “extremely aggressive cancer”, which, according to the band, had only been diagnosed two days before.
Like many of his musical influences, Lemmy kicked ass and took names. In his own right, Lemmy influenced many musicians and entertainers himself. Perhaps my favourite one of Lemmy-influenced characters is by far the character Alex “Star-burns” Osbourne from Community (please note that this is just my opinion. Most people would argue that his character is modelled after a combination of rock legends, including Ozzy Osbourne). Most definitely because of the sideburns and the get-up. Star-burns was always that one dude in Spanish class that was always on his own planet but still there for the important stuff.
In honour of Lemmy, Jack Daniels has created a limited edition single barrel select whiskey to commemorate his death. Only 288 bottles of the stuff have been released thus far, and have sold US$99 a pop. Cheers, Lemmy!
Here is a peak at Thunder & Lightening, off of Motörhead latest studio album, Bad Magic.
https://youtu.be/4hNQxMqZLbM
David Bowie
“Dear David Bowie, how do you tell Pinocchio he’ll never be a real boy?” – Will Burton, Bandslam, 2009
The day that the news broke of David Bowie passing I was at a restaurant with my mom and my sister having lunch. For them it didn’t make much of a difference, but for me… Well, my heart was broken, to say the least.
From a very young age, Bowie proved to be quite a precocious and single-minded child, who was every bit as defiant and gifted as a talented 6-year-old could be. He would grow to release his first top 5 entry into the UK Singles chart, Space Oddity, at the tender age of 22 in 1969. After a time of experimentation, Bowie re-emerged 1972 during the glamrock era with his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, which spearheaded the success of his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and the single Starman.
Although the late 70s were marked with uneven commercial success for Bowie, the next 30 years bore endless success for the Starman career, with Bowie churning out multiple number 1 hits. After his final live performance in 2006, Bowie took a decade long hiatus, which ended in 2013 with the release of his 24th studio album, The Next Day. David Bowie released his 25th and final studio album, Blackstar on 8 January 2016, just two days after he lost his battle with liver cancer.
Throughout the years, Bowie has made many notable appearances both on stage and screen, including Zoolander and The Prestige. And of course, who could forget that time David Bowie told Coldplay that he wouldn’t do a song with them because it wasn’t a very good song (yeah, we don’t blame you).
I never knew much about rock growing up but when I turned 16 I heard David Bowie for the first time (thanks to my high school crush). From that moment on, my life was changed for the stardusted. Bowie fans are probably the best in the world, as it was reported earlier in the past week that a constellation of stars in the shape of a lightening bolt would be named after David Bowie to commemorate his death. Unfortunately, that can’t happen due to a whole bunch of other legal issues and regulations, but it would have been pretty cool.
I’m a huge fan of mash-ups and crazy collaborations. But this one is by far one of the coolest. Mash-up genius, Andy Rhefeldt took it up upon himself to comfort the world with this piece of musical sorcery in a never before attempted collaboration of David Bowie and Motörhead classics, Space Oddity and Ace of Spades. Granted it starts off a bit slow, but by the first minute your mind is blown!
https://youtu.be/qkfSWt09qi4
Of course, January 2016 is fast becoming known as the month of the grim reaper. Here a look at some other music and entertainment legends who have sung their swan song over the last month.
Natalie Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015)
Natalie Maria Cole was the daughter of Jazz and Swing legend Nat King Cole. Cole died on NewYears Eve at the age of 65 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of congenital heart failure.
Here a clip of Natalie singing a virtual duet with her father.
Glenn Frey (November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016)
The singer-songwriter, producer and actor, was best known for being the founding member of the Eagles. In the band he played guitar, piano and keyboards, as well as being one of the primary vocalists along with Don Henley. He sang lead vocals on songs such as Take it Easy, Peaceful Easy Feeling and Tequila Sunrise.
Alan Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016)
The actor of stage and screen, who was perhaps best known as Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies, as well as one of my favourite Die Hard, died at the age of 69 after a long bout with pancreatic cancer.
Dale “Buffin” Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016)
The drummer and co-founder of the 70s rock band Mott the Hoople died at the age of 67 after a decade long struggle with Alzheimer Disease. The late David Bowie had once listed Mottram the Hoople as one of his musical influences.
We here at The Grind Radio extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to all the family, loved ones and fans across the globe of the departed.
We thank you for the many years of unending and extremely awesome entertainment, R.I.P. The Greats, you all will be missed!