MOTÖRHEAD Cancels Remaining Shows On European Festival Tour

MOTÖRHEAD has canceled the remaining eight shows on its European festival tour, the band's drummer, Mikkey Dee, has revealed.

The group scrapped several gigs last week after MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister suffered a haematoma (where blood collects outside of a blood vessel). The news of Lemmy's latest medical issue followed reports that he was also recently fitted with a defibrillator because of heart problems.

"Everything started with him falling and getting a nasty blow to his hip a little over a week ago," Dee told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

Following his fall, Lemmy had more bad luck when a fire alarm went off at the hotel Royal Kensington in London where he was staying.

"He had to walk eight stairs in the middle of the night," Mikkey said. "Lemmy's personal assistant said that that was fucked up and that he had an injured hip."

Dee was somewhat hesitant when it came to talking about Lemmy's health and referred to a soon-to-be-issued press release that will offer more information. But he said that a "snowball effect" had a negative impact on Lemmy's physical condition.

"He needs to have his body drained of fluid and that can't be done too quickly," he said. "When he remains in bed and can't move, he can easily get pnemonia…. If you can't move properly, other issues will follow."

"He is devastated beyond belief. It has a bigger effect on him than it would anyone else. It's like chopping off a piano player's hands. This is his life."

Asked if he is worried about his friend Lemmy, Dee said: "I am worried because he's not doing so well right now. But he's improving, even though it takes longer for him than anyone else to become well. Now that the doctors feel that he shouldn't go out an play you'll just have to accept that order."

In a separate einterview with GT.se, Dee stated about Lemmy's current health status: "Things are improving with Lemmy, but the doctors in Berlin are recommending that he rests for another couple of weeks. We can't keep canceling show after show, it's too costly. Therefore we unfortunately have to cancel the entire tour. There will be an official announcement regarding his health shortly."

Dee had been looking forward to the band's headlining show at Metaltown in his hometown Gothenburg on Thursday, July 4.

"It's so fucking typical, but what are you going to do?" he said. "You have to put health before everything else."

Asked if he has a message for the MOTÖRHEAD fans, Mikkey said: "We're really sorry. But we're not canceling because of a cold and this is something we've put a lot of thought into."

Regarding MOTÖRHEAD's plans for the immediate future, Mikkey said: "Our buses, trucks and trailers are rolling home this afternoon. We're going to focus on the coming album and our big European tour this fall."

Mikkey also spoke about what he intends to do during his unwanted time off. "I have to twiddle my thumbs," he said. "Maybe I'll go fishing more than usual."

MOTÖRHEAD has set "Aftershock" as the title of its new album, tentatively due in September. The follow-up to 2010's "The Wörld Is Yours" was recorded at Maple Sound Studios in Santa Ana, California with longtime producer Cameron Webb and will feature 13 songs, including "Dust And Glass", "Knife", "Going To Mexico", "Lost Woman Blues", "Death Machine" and "Heartbreaker".