MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee has no intentions of reforming the band with someone else filling in for the late Lemmy Kilmister
Speaking with Finland’s Chaoszine, former MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee discussed the band’s final tour, which wrapped on December 11, 2015, shortly before the passing of late MOTÖRHEAD frontman Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister. Mikkey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “[Lemmy] was very excited. He loved doing this stuff. And I do remember that we were having a pretty tough time. Lemmy was sick. He was tired. And we could not get him off the road.
“Both me and Phil [Campbell, MOTÖRHEAD guitarist] said, ‘Look, let’s break.’ … Let’s go back to [Lemmy‘s hometown of Los Angeles], rest, eat and we pick up the European tour again. But he said, ‘No, no, no, no, no. We’ve gotta play.’ ‘Okay.’ So me and Phil were talking, and we said, ‘Instead of argue with Lemmy, trying to get him off the road, let’s just help him instead.’ And I remember, the shows, we had to adjust a lot of stuff, but I think we and he did fantastic.
“I mean, the last show was 11th of December in Berlin, and then a couple of weeks later, the man is gone. So, trust me, me and Phil put in 150 percent and Lemmy must have put in 300 percent to get through the set.”
The drummer, who has been performing a number of shows recently under the name “Mikkey Dee With Friends“, which sees Mikkey perform a number of MOTÖRHEAD songs, was also once again asked if he and Campbell would ever go out and play MOTÖRHEAD music together, with someone else performing Lemmy‘s parts. He responded: “Well, you never know. I mean, me and Phil wrote great music. But he’s fully involved with his boys [in their band PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS].
“And I’m fully involved with SCORPIONS. We’re touring a lot. Not right now, obviously, but we’re on the road all the time with the SCORPS. So I don’t say no; there’s always possibilities. But, of course, as I explained in, I think a podcast, I said, and some people misunderstood this, or actually, they didn’t — actually the press wrote the wrong things. I said, ‘We will never, ever get back together and replace Lemmy. That’s impossible.’ I said, ‘But doing little constellations, doing some tribute stuff, that’s great.’ That’s very, very different.
“And I think they said something, ‘Mikkey will never play MOTÖRHEAD again.’ That was the main headline on Blabbermouth. I said that’s not what I said at all. [Blabbermouth editor’s note: Contrary to Mikkey‘s assertion, the actual headline for the February 2023 BLABBERMOUTH.NET story that he is referring to was ‘MIKKEY DEE: ‘We Will Never Tour’ Under MOTÖRHEAD Name Again’.]
“Of course I will play MOTÖRHEAD. But I will never be a part of trying to put MOTÖRHEAD as a band out there again with some other fucking idiot supposed to take Lemmy’s place. So that’s all I said. But to do this [‘Mikkey Dee With Friends‘ thing], [it’s] fantastic. And, of course, we’d like to plan something bigger than this in the future, hopefully.”
On December 28, 2015, the world mourned the loss of Lemmy, who passed away at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer.
In 2015, due to Lemmy‘s declining health, MOTÖRHEAD was forced to cancel several shows. Nevertheless, the band managed to complete their European tour just a couple of weeks before the legendary frontman’s untimely death.
In June 2020, it was revealed that Lemmy‘s remarkable life would be immortalized on screen in a biographical film titled “Lemmy.” Directed by Greg Olliver, the same filmmaker behind the 2010 documentary of the identical name, this upcoming movie will delve into the iconic musician’s captivating story.
To honor his memory, a specially crafted urn containing Lemmy’s ashes now rests in perpetuity within a columbarium at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California.