Watch: MIKKEY DEE Performs MOTÖRHEAD Classics In His Hometown Of Gothenburg, Sweden

March 3, 2023

Former MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee performed some of the band's classic songs over two nights on February 25-26 at Kooperativet in his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. He was joined at the gigs by THE DRIPPERS members Viktor Skatt on bass and vocals, and Stig William Rickard on guitar. Fan-filmed video can be seen below.

In a new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, Dee was asked if he and guitarist Phil Campbell would ever go out and perform as MOTÖRHEAD again, with someone else stepping in to play late MOTÖRHEAD frontman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister's parts. He responded: "No. I really don't think [the fans] want us to do that. That, to me, is stepping over the line. We will never, ever, ever tour with MOTÖRHEAD as a name ever and bring someone else in [to play Lemmy's parts]. That will never happen. But what we are doing is doing some shows here and there…

"I just did two shows Saturday and Sunday here in Sweden with two younger guys and did 10 MOTÖRHEAD songs," Mikkey continued. "And this show sold out in less than two weeks. We had to add that Sunday. And it's so great to play the old classics again and perform. But it has nothing to do with trying to be MOTÖRHEAD. And this is not advertised as MOTÖRHEAD; it's advertised [as] 'Mikkey Dee With Friends', for instance. So there's definitely a line there."

Dee also said that he didn't necessarily have a problem with other bands who go out and perform their classic songs without most or any of the original members. "I just don't get it [as to why fans complain so much about that]. I just don't get it," he said. "Because all [fans] have to do, if they have such a problem with it, just stop listening and stop following. But there is people out there that still wanna hear these songs. But with that said, it has to be done in a respectful and tasteful manner. And I won't mention any bands or names here, but everyone does not do that, and they're kind of overstepping, where it kind of becomes so obvious that there only is money that they're out for."

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.

Back in May 2021, Dee told the "Waste Some Time With Jason Green" video podcast that Lemmy refused to quit touring in the weeks leading up to his death, even when his health was clearly deteriorating.

"We played the last show the 11th of December [of 2015] in Berlin, and he passed just [two] weeks later," Mikkey recalled. "And that tells you, the guy died with his boots on. And both me and Phil [Campbell, MOTÖRHEAD guitarist] were trying to talk him out of starting the second part of the European tour after Christmas. But there was no way in hell we could do that. And I said to Phil, 'Look, instead of arguing with Lemmy or pushing him not to do this,' because we said maybe we should break for a couple of months for him to catch his wind, basically. I said, 'Let's not push him anyway. Let him decide what he wants to do. He knows best what he wants to do.' And he wanted to be on stage. So we said, 'Let's just support him instead,' and that's what we did. But we never made it to the second leg of that European tour, unfortunately. It was the U.K. that was on the next part of it, I remember that."

Asked if he knew when he came home to Sweden that it would probably be the end for Lemmy, Mikkey said: "No. Not at all. Because I talked to Lemmy after that show in Berlin. We were all gonna go separate ways, obviously. I was gonna just fly out to Sweden, and Phil went back home to Wales. Lemmy was flying back to L.A., but I believe he was gonna fly to London and stay one night or two or so and say hi to friends and then fly back home. And I spoke to him right after the show. I went down to Lemmy's dressing room, and I said, 'All right. Go back to L.A. and figure out, maybe, another two songs from [MOTÖRHEAD's final album] 'Bad Magic' that you think that we should do. And we take out the two songs that we already played on this leg, and we put in two new songs from the record.' And he said, 'Yeah. All right. I'll check that out.' And I said, 'Let's hook up after Christmas.' Because it was the 11th of December at that time, and I figured we'd talk between Christmas and New Year's Eve and decide which two songs that we agreed on on playing on that next leg. And he said, 'Yeah, I'll go back and work on that.' And that was it. He had no intention of not coming back to Europe and touring. So we did a little finger hook, as we always did, and that was the last time I saw him, actually. Very sad."

Dee went on to say that Lemmy had made some changes in his life to improve his health after dealing with several issues over the last few years of his life, including heart trouble. "But my personal belief is that it was maybe a little too late," he said. "He should have maybe changed a little earlier. But knowing Lemmy, he was not for that. He was doing it his way or the highway, basically. And that made him to what he was. He never compromised with his music, he never compromised with friendship, he never compromised with what way he was gonna go for anyone else in that way, which is why MOTÖRHEAD was MOTÖRHEAD, and still is MOTÖRHEAD. But with that said, of course, the three of us were talking a lot about stuff, and it was not like he was some kind of a boss here. But we all worked so good together, and that's what created the magic, I would say."

Mikkey Dee Kooperativet

Posted by Bea Di on Sunday, February 26, 2023

Posted by Unplugged on Friday, December 9, 2022

Find more on Motorhead
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).