Motörhead turns 50. Here comes a year of celebrations

THE Motorhead they will celebrate their 50th year in 2025 and to celebrate the anniversary a series of releases and events will take place throughout the year.

Having played live for millions of fans and sold over 25 million albums over the course of their career, Grammy Award-winning Motörhead are still popular as they enter their golden jubilee.

In October 2024 the band reached the UK top 10 singles with “Lawman”, which has amassed over 320 million streams globally, 20 million listeners on Spotify and over 112 million views on YouTube.

Starting with a very special release to be announced in May, the year 2025 will be a celebration that confirms that Motörhead are forever and ever Lemmy (Ian Fraser Kilmister), their charismatic leader, is forever in the memory of fans and beyond. Lemmy passed away on December 28, 2015 in Los Angeles, a few days after turning 70 – he was born on December 24, 1945.

“It’s amazing to know that our music, and everything it stands for, continues to resonate with so many people,” says the guitarist Phil Campbell“of course, we are enormously grateful to still be as appreciated as we are, and truthfully, music remains as vital and important as ever, because there is a unique energy and honesty to it.”

“It’s an amazing story, the bond we have with our fans can only be described as family and it’s so exciting to see the family continue to grow,” he says Mickey Goddesses (Michael Kiriakos Delaoglouthe Swedish-born drummer), “But it also makes sense, because people know who we are and what the music is about. Motörhead has always been about doing it OUR way, it’s timeless and continues to inspire people to take up this road.”

Kicking off the celebrations will be special 50th anniversary limited vinyl editions of Motörhead’s flagship albums, “Overkill” (1979), “Bombers” (1979) and “Ace of Spades” (1980). These editions are all “restored” as half-speed masters, printed in special color configurations and include an exclusive poster. They will be available on February 28th.

On May 8th, International Motörhead Daya very special event will be held for the ashes of Lemmy Forever, with the unveiling of a statue of the bassist in his hometown of Stoke-On-Trent.

The sculptor of the work is the famous British artist Andy Edwards (who has already created statues of the Beatles, Bob Marley and the Bee Gees), while Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell will lay the ashes and lead the celebrations.

“This new statue of Lem is special, not only because I share his birthplace or because of the personal meaning it has for me, but because it is so important to have a permanent international landmark celebrating him in the place where he was born “, says Edwards and adds: “Lemmy has given me joy, self-confidence and energy, and he is also an avatar of the original spirit and power of Rock n Roll. I really hope it becomes a meeting place for the people of the whole world to embark on a journey to.”

“To be able to see Lemmy further immortalized in his birthplace thanks to Andy’s amazing statue is a huge thing,” says the manager Todd Singerman. “This man left this earth 10 years ago, yet not only does he remain with us, but he is still as popular as ever. It’s because Lemmy stood for honesty, integrity, inclusion, and creating the greatest and loud rock’n’roll as possible. Let’s face it, there is only one Lemmy and the world continues to celebrate him and his music loudly and proudly.”

To whet your appetite for a year of Motörhead celebrations, you can now watch a new HD version of their first televised performance on BBC’s Top Of The Pops on October 25, 1978, featuring “Louie, Louie” (cover of the song written in 1955 by Richard Berry, which has become an R’n’R standard).