Lemmy’s pride in helping coma boy

Motorhead icon Lemmy says his proudest moment with the band was when they helped bring a fan out of a coma.

The memorable moment took place in their early years, when the frontman was accompanied by guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor.

Lemmy tells Full Metal Jackie: “We brought a kid out of a coma once. We made tapes and they played them to him in hospital – and he came out of his coma.”

He says the boy was the only one to recover from a ward full of people in a similar condition, and adds: “That is worth my whole career.”

The 69-year-old was forced into making lifestyle changes after a series of health alerts in 2013. But he admits: “I stopped smoking for about two years, but I started again.

“I’m only doing a pack a week, as opposed to two packs a day, which I was doing. And I stopped drinking Coke. There’s 10 spoons of sugar in a can of Coke. I’ve got diabetes, you know – if I hadn’t got it, that would have given it to me.”

Motorhead are currently working on their 22nd album, expected in the autumn. Lemmy admits he’s been suffering a bout of writer’s block in the studio, but reflects: “You wait for it to go away. It always does.”

The band play this year’s Eden Sessions in Truro in June and launch their second Motorboat cruise in September.

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.