'Portraits Of Lemmy' Book To Include Classic, Rare And Previously Unseen Photographs Of MOTÖRHEAD Legend

"Portraits Of Lemmy", the eighth book in the new "Portraits" series from Rufus Publications, is a photographic celebration of the iconic, larger-than-life Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, lead singer, bassist and driving force of MOTÖRHEAD.

This brand new, coffee table photobook traces the career of one of rock's most notable figures from the early 1970s until his death in 2015 through a series of classic, rare and previously unseen photographs from some of rock's greatest lensmen, including Ross Halfin, Fin Costello, Chris Walter, Michael Putland, Mick Hutson, PG Brunelli and many others.

Famous for creating MOTÖRHEAD, a band as iconic as himself, Lemmy forged a sound and style unique to heavy metal and hard rock. Longtime music journalist Dave Ling has penned a career spanning essay based on his many encounters with Lemmy, a man who has played, written and recorded with some of rock's greatest names, appeared in film and TV shows, video games, and was the subject of a 2010 rockumentary in which he was lauded by some of the most eminent names in rock.

Lemmy once described his playing style as "I play a lot of notes, but I also play a lot of chords. And I play a lot of open strings. I just don't play like a bass player. There are complaints about me from time to time. It's not like having a bass player; it's like having a deep guitarist."

"Portraits Of Lemmy" is a testament to one of rock's greatest, most compelling figures.

This book is 230mm square, case-bound, 240 pages, printed on luxury 170gsm matt-coated paper. The book comes with a foldout poster and is presented in a black slipcase with a gold foil logo. The main edition comes in 666 numbered copies and sells for £55 plus shipping.

In addition to this, there will be a much larger, ultra-limited leather-and-metal edition measuring 375mm square and presented in recycled leather and a hand-welded aluminum metal slipcase with a screen-printed logo in a run of just 50 numbered copies. This will sell for £500.

The books will go on pre-sale on Friday, October 6 at 3 p.m. UK time.

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.

This past March, MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell was asked in an interview with a href="https://myglobalmind.com/2023/03/17/phil-campbell-of-phil-campbell-and-the-bastard-sons-on-new-release-live-in-the-north-touring-with-my-sons-is-very-different-than-touring-with-motorhead-i-no-longer-drink-so-its-a-big/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Myglobalmind if he and his then-bandmates knew "things were not going well" when they were forced to cancel a number of shows due to Lemmy's declining health in the months leading up to his death. Phil responded: "Yeah, we knew, but Lem wanted to just carry on then. I know the last tour in Germany, I think one or two shows were canceled 'cause I ended up in hospital. And I came back out and we finished the tour. And that was the last tour then; the last show was in Berlin. So the last week of MOTÖRHEAD, actually I was the one in bloody hospital. But we never thought — when we parted at the end of the tour, we never thought that would be the last time we'd see each other. We didn't have a chance to say goodbye, me or Mikkey [Dee, MOTÖRHEAD drummer], or nothing. I couldn't even go over to the funeral, 'cause my doctor advised me not to, 'cause I was pretty ill myself in them days."

Earlier that same month, Dee told Sonic Perspectives that Lemmy didn't have any idea he was dying in the months leading up to his December 2015 passing. "I don't think that he had those — I know he didn't have these thoughts at all," Mikkey said. "But he did struggle with his health, and that was a pain in the ass for Lemmy, because he wanted to live his normal life so much. But he had some good days and bad days. And '15 was a tough year for Lemmy, and for all of us, obviously. But I know for a fact that he had no idea that he would actually pass away — I mean, die — by the end of that year; he had no clue about that."