Lemmy’s bizarre Janet Jackson collaboration: “The record company wouldn’t let it be possible”
Regarding classic rock and roll, Lemmy is about as cut and dry as it gets. Throughout his time with Motörhead, the famous rock and roll troubadour lived up to his reputation as one of the greatest rebels in the business, always playing the most raucous music he could think of. While Motörhead kept things in-house throughout their career, Lemmy thought the band would have worked best when paired with this pop singer.
Despite Motörhead and pop music sounding as good as Bob Dylan reimagining himself as a dance music star, Lemmy never claimed to be a snob about what he listened to. While it’s clear from his music that the bass player worshipped at the altar of artists like Eddie Cochran and Little Richard in his time, he was always looking for the next big thing in rock music as well.
Aside from shouting his praises of acts like The Beatles, Lemmy was interested in anyone who excelled in their field, calling Metallica one of the finest metal acts he had ever seen and thinking that no one compared to what Jimi Hendrix could do when he got onstage. As Motörhead reached the 1980s, though, they were already on the verge of a commercial breakthrough on Ace of Spades.
Arriving just before the hair metal movement, Lemmy had sculpted one of the all-time hard rock classics, featuring songs that hit with the force of a sledgehammer whenever they came on. While Lemmy may have put his stamp on traditional rock and roll, the advent of MTV was about to change everything overnight.
Thanks to the photogenic looks of everyone from Prince to David Bowie, the focus of every band was just as concerned with how they presented themselves and how good the music was. Although Lemmy would never put on a pair of spandex and frame himself as a pop star, he remembered being shellshocked when hearing Janet Jackson for the first time.
Having come off a pair of decent pop-friendly albums after her time in The Jacksons, Janet was about to become one of the biggest pop stars of her generation. With the help of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, albums like Rhythm Nation 1814 and Control would become mainstays of the pop world, featuring songs that blended R&B, pop and rock under one roof.
When listening to her for the first time, even Lemmy was impressed by what he heard. After hearing ‘Black Cat’, Lemmy thought it would be a good idea to work with Jackson on the track, saying, “I wanted to do a version of ‘Black Cat’ with her, but Sony wouldn’t let me. You could tell from the video that she was having a good time, that this loud rock music is what she really wanted to be doing. Great f*ckin’ song that, but the record company wouldn’t let it be possible.”
While the decision to axe the idea was out of Lemmy’s hands, it’s not like he doesn’t work well with a female counterpart. Outside of composing songs with the likes of Joan Jett, Lemmy would also see some success on the charts through collaborations with everyone from Girlschool to Wendy O Williams for a cover of the country classic ‘Stand By Your Man’. Even though the collaboration would have been impossible these days, it’s easy to imagine the sleek riff of ‘Black Cat’ getting the hard rock treatment.
