Lemmy won’t let me sleep - Phil Campbell

Motorhead

Former Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell says he still can’t stop thinking about late leader Lemmy, nearly a year after his death.

The rock icon passed away on December 28, 2015, following months of ill health and just days after he’d been told he had inoperable cancer.

That led to the end of his band, with drummer Mikkey Dee going on to join the Scorpions and Campbell concentrating on his outfit The Bastard Sons, featuring three of his own sons.

Campbell tells Planet Rock: “He’s in my mind all the time, like. I can’t get to sleep some nights because he’s fucking asking me for cigarettes, things like that.”

In a separate interview he’s recalled how he got the gig with Motorhead in 1984. He tells One On One With Mitch Lafon: “When I went into the audition it was only a small room. A roadie gave Lemmy his bass, he turned the volume up and strummed the first chord.

“I just though, ‘Bloody hell, this is loud’ – and I kind of enjoyed it. We’d be having volume games ever since.

“It was daunting, but I was up for the job. I was capable, I thought. I had a bit of luck on my side on that day. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

Meanwhile, Scorpions frontman Klaus Meine has said that the recruitment of Dee has opened up more option for the veteran Germans’ future.

Meine tells Backstage Axxess: “At the end of this year we all need a break. Mikkey is like, ‘Come on, guys, we’ve got to keep going. This is so fantastic.’

“And we say, ‘Okay.’ We need a break, but we’ll pick it up at some point because it really feels great with Mikkey.”

Asked about the possibility of recording new music with Dee, the singer replies: “At this point, nobody knows what comes next.”

Watch making-of documentary on Lemmy statue

Freelance Online News Contributor

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.