Phil Campbell explains Lemmy funeral absence

Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell says he wasn’t at Lemmy’s funeral as he was advised by doctors not to fly.

Campbell was a notable absentee from frontman Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister’s Hollywood funeral at the weekend and he explains in a series of tweets that he was under doctor’s orders not to make the trip from the UK.

Campbell says: “Amazing service for Lem the other day, everyone there spoke beautifully. I really wanted to attend but I wasn’t able to make it. Unfortunately I was advised on doctors orders not to fly on such a long haul flight due to my recent hospitalisation.

“I’m doing well though and I managed to watch the whole service via the online stream, so thanks to the Motorhead team for organising that.”

Motorhead had to re-schedule three European shows late last year after Campbell was taken to hospital with an undisclosed health problem. Lemmy died of an aggressive form of cancer on December 28, just a few days after being diagnosed and turning 70.

Meanwhile, former Motorhead guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke has also explained his absence from the funeral, saying he couldn’t get a visa to enter the US.

He says: “I have past sins, which means it takes longer for me to get a visa and with being Christmas, there wasn’t enough time.

“I watched it online last night. I thought everyone did very well. It all reminded me of what a great man Lemmy was and how much he lived for his music and Motorhead and the fans.

“I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. It was very sad but the message got across about the great man.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.