Lemmy Kilmister died of prostate cancer, cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure on December 28, 2015, just days after his 70th birthday. In a newly unearthed, poignant interview, his friend and fellow rocker Ozzy Osbourne shared his memories of the last day of Lemmy’s life.
Speaking to Metal Hammer last year, Ozzy said he had called the Motörhead star the day he died, saying: “I knew he was dying.
“He didn’t even know it was me,” the former Black Sabbath icon recalled. “I had to say to him, ‘It’s Ozzy, Lem.’
“He just gurgled down the phone to me. I said, ‘Lemmy, for f***’s sake, stay there. I’m coming.’”
Ozzy told the publication he and his wife Sharon Osbourne were going to rush to be with Lemmy but it was too late.
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“I said to Sharon, ‘F*** it, get in the car. We’re going round to his apartment.’ And just as we were leaving she came up to me and said, ‘Don’t worry, he’s gone.’”
Lemmy suffered with a number of serious health issues in the years prior to his death and was hospitalised with a lung infection months before he died.
Ozzy also spoke out about Lemmy’s funeral, which was held in January 2016, and attended by Lars Ulrich, Dave Grohl and Slash, among others.
“His memorial was something else,” he said. “I thought to myself, Jesus, if he was looking down at this shower!
“There was a tray of drinks as you went into the church. I thought, this is Lemmy alright!”
Motörhead supported Ozzy on his first US tour many years ago and, paying tribute to Lemmy, the singer called it a memory he will “take to his grave”.
“Good times, they were all good guys,” he said. “I miss them all, to be honest.”
Motörhead’s original drummer Phil Taylor died on November 11, 2015, just weeks before Lemmy, and guitarist Eddie Clarke passed away on January 18, 2018.
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Following Lemmy’s death, Ozzy shared a touching tribute in which he wrote: “He lived the rock & roll lifestyle to the max, but it’s still sad when you lose a friend like that.”
Ozzy added: “There goes a hero for me. He was my hero. He was f***ing great, a good friend. I’m missing him already. I’l never forget him.”
Following the metal star’s death, Motörhead released a statement sayings cancer had only been diagnosed two days earlier.
Lemmy’s manager Todd Singerman told Sky News at the time: “Nobody had any idea, we just learned Saturday, two days ago, that he even had cancer and the doctor told him he had between two to six months to live.
“He died today as I was making calls to his bandmates Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, telling them to come out so they could have a last goodbye while he was still upbeat and everything.
“He was feeling mighty low. He wasn’t expected to die like that.”
His manager also told Rolling Stone how Lemmy had reacted to the news of his cancer diagnosis.
“He took it better than all of us,” he said. “His only comment was, ‘Oh, only two months, huh?’ The doctor goes, ‘Yeah, Lem, I don’t want to bulls*** you. It’s bad, and there’s nothing anyone can do.
“‘I would be lying to you if I told you there was a chance.’”