Motörhead’s Lemmy ‘devastated’ by death of band’s former drummer Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor

Ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has also paid tribute to late drummer

Motörhead frontman Lemmy has paid tribute to the band’s former drummer Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor, who passed away earlier this week.

The drummer was a member of the band from 1975 to 1984 and later rejoined between 1987 and 1992.

Lemmy told Classic Rock magazine that he is “devastated” to have lost his band mate. He also mentioned guitarist Michael ‘Würzel’ Burston, who died in 2011.

Advertisement

“I’m feeling very sad at the moment, in fact devastated, because one of my best friends died yesterday. I miss him already,” Lemmy said. “His name was Phil Taylor, or Philthy Animal, and he was our drummer twice in our career. Now he’s died and it really pisses me off that they take somebody like him and leave George Bush alive. So muse on that.”

He added: “We’re still going, we’re still going strong, it’s just first Würzel and now Philthy, it’s a shame man. I think this rock’n’roll business might be bad for the human life.”

Meanwhile, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash also paid tribute to Taylor. “Sad sad news about losing Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor,” he tweeted. “One of the best drummers in Rock n Roll. RIP Phil, you will be missed. A lot.”

Taylor’s last appearance alongside frontman Lemmy came in 2014 when he joined the band for a gig in Birmingham. Footage from that gig can be seen below.

Advertisement

Motörhead tour the UK in January 2016, starting in Newcastle and ending in London, in support of new album ‘Bad Magic’, released in August.

Motörhead will play:

Newcastle City Hall (January 23, 2016)
Glasgow Clyde Auditorium (24)
Manchester O2 Apollo (26)
Swindon Oasis (27)
London Eventim Apollo (29)

The band were recently forced to cancel a series of shows, as well as cut some short, due to frontman Lemmy’s ill health.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories