A statue of the late Lemmy Kilmister is set to be unveiled during a ceremony in the Motörhead legend’s hometown of Burslem, which is part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.
As previously reported, plans for the 2.25-meter (7-foot, 5-inch) bronze sculpture were approved in February 2024. The statue was constructed by local sculptor Andy Edwards out of Staffordshire clay.
The ceremony will commence in the Burslem town center at approximately 4 p.m. on May 9th. Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell will be in attendance to place Lemmy’s ashes in the statue with accompaniment from a biker’s corteo, and friends and fans are invited to come early and enjoy pre-ceremonial beverages at various adjacent hostelries including Old Post Office bar and Ale House, as well as the the Market Place Café.
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Additional ceremonial festivities include a 21-rev salute, a viewing of rarely seen Lemmy photographs via The Bare Walls Art Gallery next to the statue, a Motörhead tribute band performance later in the evening at Grumpy’s bar, and more.
The sculptor, Andy Edwards, a lifelong Motörhead fan, was recently interviewed by the BBC about the creation of the statue.
“Lemmy was a personal hero to me,” said Edwards, who first saw Motörhead play at Hanley’s Victoria Hall in 1979 after he learned of their album Overkill from a school friend.
“The reason for making this statue is to give other people that pleasure that I’ve had in thinking back, those memories at Victoria Hall, Bingley Hall and Vale Park,” Edwards added.
Edwards futher told the BBC that he had contemplated every intricate detail possible while creating the statue, right down to Lemmy’s Rickenbacker 4001 guitar.
“I put those details in because if you don’t, people sense there’s something not quite right and they don’t hang around as long,” he said “You want people to hang about because you want people to go back in time and get their imaginations going.”
A rendering of how the statue will look once in place, as well as in-progress images, can be seen below.
Meanwhile, other celebrations will take place a day earlier on Motörhead Day (The Eighth of May), including one at Lemmy’s favorite hangout spot, the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood, California. More details below.
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