Lemmy thought Pete Townshend would never forgive him: “He gritted his teeth”
Lemmy always seemed unbothered by the opinions of others, except that one of his heroes did the impossible by making him reflect on his actions.
A top contender for the ultimate embodiment of the rock and roll lifestyle, the English musician became notorious for living his life strictly on his own terms. A full-time alcohol enthusiast and substance-abuse expert, he functioned in a dimension far, far removed from the average human being until the day he passed away at the age of 70 a decade ago.
His lifestyle was essentially an extension of the rough-edged and unruly music that made him a star, although it’s important to acknowledge that this approach to artistry wasn’t something he invented out of thin air. Like a lot of hard rock, metal and punk artists, his work also traces back to the originators of tasteful disruption in music, which typically boils down to a few notable acts, and it’s essentially impossible to have a conversation about rule-breaking without bringing up The Who. Zooming in even further, drummer Keith Moon and guitarist Pete Townshend embodied the essence of the band and the charmingly messy spirit that has made them proto-punk icons.
“If you want a rock and roll band, you can’t go wrong with The Who,” Lemmy told Planet Rock back in 2011, “Townshend is a wonderful guitar player, and he doesn’t play a whole lot of lead, but he is incredible, and the way he plays chords is unbelievable.”
Moon had unfortunately passed away by the time the group reunited for a reunion tour across the United States in 1989, but Townshend was still very much in full form two and a half decades into his career, who, while performing his signature windmill strum during a show in Tacoma, Washington, ended up seriously injuring himself when the whammy bar on his guitar pierced his hand.
During a 2004 interview with Classic Rock, Lemmy recalled watching The Who perform at the Royal Albert Hall soon after the mishap, and not being mindful of the stringman’s wound upon meeting him. In a rare moment of regret, he even apologised and talked about letting his fellow musician even the score.
“I don’t think Pete Townshend will ever speak to me again,” he said. “Do you remember when he impaled his hand on the whammy bar of his guitar? The Who did a show at the Albert Hall, and I went down to see them and went backstage, and Pete says: ‘Oh, hello Lemmy’. And I shook his fucking hand! He gritted his teeth; he was a man about it, but I don’t think he’ll forgive.”
The journalist who interviewed the bassist mentioned being invited to his hotel room and noticing that the rockstar had been confined to his room due to what appeared to be a nasty foot injury. Lemmy even held his foot up for the writer, who described his big toe as “a mouldy old parsnip that’s been lying in a pool of stale milk at the bottom of your fridge”.
Regarding his own physical setback at the time, the Motörhead soldier directly addressed Townshend and said, “I’m sure he reads Classic Rock, so sorry, Pete. I’ve got the foot now if you wanna come and stamp on it”.
