Watch: LEMMY Statue Unveiled In His English Birth Town

On Friday, May 9, 2025, MOTÖRHEAD founder and bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmister was honored and further immortalized during the “Lemmy Forever” ceremony in Burslem, Stoke on Trent, England.

With MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell attending to place Lemmy‘s ashes in a magnificent statue created by local sculptor, and huge MOTÖRHEAD fan, Andy Edwards, the day was filled with fun, friends, and some volume too.

The ceremony commenced in Burslem town center at approximately 4:00 p.m., with friends invited to come early and make a day of it by enjoying some pre-ceremonial MOTÖRHEAD beverages at the various site-adjacent hostelries including Old Post Office bar and Ale House, while the Market Place Café also had refreshments, including a special MOTÖRHEAD roast of the day.

Some of the ceremonial festivities included a biker’s corteo accompanying the ashes, various speakers, and a roaring 21-rev salute which hit the skies in ceremonial reverence. The statue itself captures Lemmy in all his live glory from the 1981 era, which saw MOTÖRHEAD headline the Heavy Metal Holocaust just down the road at Port Vale Stadium back on August 1, 1981.

MOTÖRHEAD fan Nobby, who was at the ceremony, told BBC Radio Stoke he had been following the band since he was 15 and described the unveiling as “absolutely awesome”.

“It’s unbelievable — it looks alive. Looking at it now, he really has captured Lemmy to a tee. It’s brilliant,” he said.

“It’s well worth the wait, well worth everything and I hope it brings people to Burslem to see it.”

Edwards, who had previously created sculptures of THE BEATLES, Bob Marley, Sir Alex Ferguson, Muhammed Ali and the BEE GEES, said: “Of all the figures in music, there aren’t that many that have the unique stature that Lemmy does. He’s like an avatar of the purest spirit of rock and roll — he’s one of us. I think it’s right that it [the statue] has been made locally.”

MOTÖRHEAD is a Grammy Award-winning British rock band renowned for their groundbreaking contributions to a variety of musical genres including heavy metal, punk rock and rock’n’roll, as well as their rebellious, free-wheeling attitude. 2025 sees the band celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of “Motörhead For Life” and “Lemmy Forever” events to carry on the lifestyle perpetuated by the band and its iconic frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

Lemmy, who was born in Burslem and later lived in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme and Madeley, 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 a 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.