JAMES HETFIELD Shows Off New Tattoo With LEMMY's Ashes In It: 'Without Him, There Would Be No METALLICA'

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield has paid tribute to Lemmy Kilmister in the form of a tattoo containing the late MOTÖRHEAD leader's ashes.

Hetfield unveiled his new tattoo on METALLICA's Instagram page late Tuesday night (April 16),explaining that he took the Iron Cross and Spade imagery often sported by Lemmy and had it tattooed on the middle finger of his right hand so that the iconic MOTÖRHEAD rocker "is still able to fly the bird at the world".

"With the steady hand of friend and tattoo artist @coreymillertattoo, this tattoo," Hetfield wrote.

"A salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister. Without him, there would be NO METALLICA.

"Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me.

"So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world."

METALLICA paid tribute to Lemmy on its 2016 album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", which came out less than a year after the iconic rocker's death.

"[It's] a song called 'Murder One', which was the name of [Lemmy's] amplifier, his favorite amp on stage," James told the 95.5 KLOS radio station. "And I loved being murdered every night by that thing, man. He was just such an icon, such an inspiration to us as a band. There's certainly no way we'd be around if there was no MOTÖRHEAD. And, you know, to see your idol, your immortal one, actually be mortal, it hit us pretty hard. So I felt, lyrically, it makes sense to acknowledge him and how much he's meant in our lives."

In a separate interview with SiriusXM, Hetfield stated about the inspiration for "Murder One": "MOTÖRHEAD had a lot to do with METALLICA sitting here right now. But just Lemmy as an entity, as kind of a father figure, he helped us a lot. He was unafraid. And he was a character. And he was himself. And we all respected that so much. He did his own thing to the last breath. No matter who you are, how could you not be inspired by that?"

Shortly after Lemmy's passing, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich penned a lengthy tribute to the MOTÖRHEAD mainman in which looked back on the influence Lemmy had not just on METALLICA but also on him personally.

MOTÖRHEAD won the "Best Metal Performance" Grammy in 2005 for its cover version of the METALLICA song "Whiplash".

At a 1995 gig at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, members of METALLICA celebrated Lemmy's 50th birthday by taking the stage as a wigged tribute band dubbed the LEMMYS.

In a 2011 interview with Metal Insider, Lemmy said: "You can't top METALLICA. They're really a fucking excellent band. I'm delighted that they said that I was one of their influences. Like, they have all of their influences, and you can't hear the influences in them, which is great. They've become their own people, and that's great. I like them a lot. I've spent a lot of time with those boys."

Lemmy died on December 28, 2015 at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer.

MOTÖRHEAD had to cancel a number of shows in 2015 because of Lemmy's poor health, although the band did manage to complete the aforementioned European tour a couple of weeks before his death.

In June 2020, it was announced that Lemmy would get the biopic treatment. The upcoming film, "Lemmy", will be directed by Greg Olliver, who previously helmed the 2010 documentary of the same name, "Lemmy".

A custom-made urn containing Lemmy's ashes is on permanent display in a columbarium at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood, California.