Hard rock icon Lemmy, Motorhead frontman, dies at 70

Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, frontman for heavy metal band Motorhead, has died at age 70, after recently being diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, the band said on its Facebook page.

Growling, whiskey-drinking, mutton-chops wearing Lemmy was famous for always turning his amplifiers up to the maximum, for positioning his microphone above his head so that he had to sing looking upward, and for his anthems to hellraising such as Motorhead’s classic Ace of Spades.

>>> Read an extended Q&A with Lemmy conducted by The Dispatch in 2008

He lived in Los Angeles and was controversial for his collection of Nazi memorabilia. He played in Hawkwind before forming Motorhead in the mid 1970s.