What was Lemmy Kilmister’s final recording?
Four days after his 70th birthday on Christmas Eve, 2015, Lemmy Kilmister passed away after a brief battle with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
The Motörhead frontman and bassist had learned of his diagnosis just two days before his passing, which his manager, Todd Singerman, later recounted to Sky News. “Nobody had any idea, we just learned Saturday, two days ago, that he even had cancer, and the doctor told him he had between two to six months to live.”
Kilmister’s last birthday was spent in Los Angeles, upon returning home from tour, at the Whisky A Go Go, just next door to his beloved Rainbow Bar & Grill on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, where a life-sized bronze statue and elaborate mural now stand in his place. “Two days later, I could tell he wasn’t feeling good,” Singerman said.
Adding, “So we took him to the hospital, they release him, then after the brain scan, they found the cancer in his brain and his neck… The doctor comes with the result a couple of days later and says… it’s terminal.”
Kilmister’s passing sent a genuine shock through the rock and metal spheres: even when considering the high-wire, adrenaline-fueled lifestyle that Kilmister had lived, indulgent in every vice seemingly possible, he exuded the personality of someone immortal, and to imagine someone like him not being around any longer was difficult to fathom.
For Kilmister, however, the concept of death was one he never necessarily shied away from. “Death is an inevitability, isn’t it?” he posed to Classic Rock in 2013. “You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don’t worry about it. I’m ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn’t complain. It’s been good.”
What was Lemmy Kilmister’s final recording?
About six months before his passing, Kilmister entered the studio for one last time. He was at Paramount Recording Studio, in his favourite room, with Swiss guitarist and songwriter Chris Declercq to work on a song to be called ‘We Are The Ones’.
The two musicians first crossed paths ten years earlier, in 2005, at none other than Kilmister’s haunt of the Rainbow Bar & Grill. Declercq had just moved from Switzerland to Hollywood and approached Kilmister with a demo CD in hand, and the two eventually found themselves in the studio together.
“At that moment, never could I have ever imagined that I would end up co-writing with him and making some magic,” Declercq said in a behind-the-scenes video of the making of ‘We Are The Ones.’
In the Paramount studio, Kilmister supplied lead vocals and later, bass, after hearing the first takes of the song. Declercq provided his guitar, while Josh Freese played on drums, and co-producer Martin Guigui featured synthesisers.
In a statement to Rolling Stone upon the single’s release, Declercq shared his gratitude for having Kilmister featured on the song. “You opened a door no one else wanted to open for me. You allowed me to share precious moments with you as a composer, musician, and friend,” he shared. “By helping me, you showed that you were the most generous, humble and honest man. I am honouring your gift every day, and you are forever in my heart.”
‘We Are The Ones’ was finally released in December of 2017, a song of classic heavy riffs fit for a Motörhead track, mixed with the gravel of Kilmister’s voice, as he sings of sleepless nights filled with hedonism and reckless abandon – a fitting note for his final song.
