A statue of late Motörhead legend Lemmy Kilmister was unveiled in his English hometown of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, during a ceremony last Friday (May 9th).
The ceremony commenced in the Burslem town center at approximately 4 p.m. on Friday, with Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell in attendance to place Lemmy’s ashes in the statue alongside the accompaniment of a biker’s corteo.
The celebratory day saw fans flocking to adjacent bars and hostelries to enjoy libations in Lemmy’s honor. Ceremonial festivities included 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, and more.
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Some even got there a day early to see the statue be transported in by truck, as seen in YouTube footage below, before being carefully lifted and placed on its plinth. A day later, the statue was publicly unveiled from beneath an orange parachute to the roar of the crowd in attendance.
The statue itself is incredibly detailed and a remarkable piece, capturing Lemmy in his iconic stage pose, singing upward toward the skies with the microphone placed abnormally high above him. The statue was constructed by local sculptor Andy Edwards — a longtime Motörhead fan who caught the band live in its heyday — out of Staffordshire clay.
“It’s unbelievable — it looks alive,” one fan told BBC Radio Stoke at the ceremony. “Looking at it now, he really has captured Lemmy to a tee. It’s brilliant.”
It’s not the first time Lemmy has been immortalized in statue form. Three years ago, the Motörhead great became a permanent beacon for attendees of the French metal festival Hellfest, and a giant Lemmy sculpture — also enshrined with his ashes — now looms over the festival grounds in Clisson. Moreover, a life-size statue of Lemmy resides at West Hollywood, California’s Rainbow Bar & Grill, where the rock legend was a regular until his passing in 2015.
Below you can see footage of the Lemmy statue being erected and unveiled in Burslem.
Content shared from consequence.net.