After revealing their intention and commissioning top bronze artist Andy Edwards to make it real, Motörhead’s management and the band’s legion of fans (with a little help from Stoke-On-Trent council) are about to make good on their aim to deliver a fitting and permanent memorial to Motörhead frontman, Lemmy Kilmister to his hometown.
Stoke-On-Trent is about to take possession of a new 8ft bronze statue of the Motörhead bassist and lead vocalist, which will be revealed in Burslem’s Market Place this Friday. The statue will also become the final resting place of a portion of Kilmister’s ashes, being placed within the statue’s plinth by Kilmister’s bandmate, guitarist Phil Campbell.
Following sculptor Edwards' campaigning and work on self-financed models of the suggested design, his plans won favour first with Motörhead’s management, which helped fund the project, and then with Motörhead fans who were invited to contribute the £50,000 necessary to make it real.
“I made a scale model that was found by various fan groups, and then Motörhead management got in touch,” explained Edwards to The Guardian. “They stepped in and said they’d support us. They gave us credibility.”
And, after a few final tweaks to the design in order to satisfy the local council - the plinth was increased from 2.5m to 3m and the proposed material for the plinth was changed from polished black granite to sandstone, to match the nearby Queens Theatre and the former town hall in Burslem’s Market Place - the project gained the required planning permission.
Killed By Death
“It’ll be wonderful, finally getting an incredible statue in his hometown,” Campbell said. “It’ll be solemn in a way, with enshrining his ashes, but also a celebration of the music and the fantastic character he was.
"Anything to do with Lem is significant and really special. He’s missed by many. He’s still in my dreams two or three times a week, getting on my case about something.”
An official motorcade will begin this Friday – just one day after global Motörhead day, the 8th of May… – at Grumpy’s bar near the Trent and Mersey canal in the Longport area of the city and undertake a short few minutes' drive to the Burslem Market Place installation site. After a few thoughtful words and the depositing of Kilmister’s ashes, it’s then back to Grumpy’s for the official afterparty.
“He liked nothing better than seeing people enjoy themselves,” says Edwards. “The main event is people meeting other people.”
Kilmister died on 28 December 2015, four days after his 70th birthday. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer just two days prior to his death.
The statue now forms part of a wider Lemmy Forever movement that seeks to keep the spirit of Motörhead alive.
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