Z2 Celebrate Motörhead’s 50th Anniversary With ‘No Remorse: The Illustrated True Stories Of Lemmy Kilmister And Motörhead’
by Richard Bruton
It’s 50 years of Motörhead, the band formed by the one and only Lemmy Kilmister, and Z2 have brought a stellar cast together for No Remorse: The Illustrated True Stories of Lemmy Kilmister and Motörhead.
Narrating their personal encounters with Lemmy, a man who really was the rock and roll lifestyle, No Remorse features some of the biggest names of rock, including Ozzy Osbourne, Lars Ulrich, Slash, Chrissie Hynde, Dee Snider, Dave Navarro, plus writers Neil Gaiman and Michael Moorcock, and Lemmy’s bandmates Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee, and Slim Jim Phantom. These writers are paired with an equally impressive list of artists including Dave Chisholm, Bob Fingerman, Jay Jay Jackson, and Jim Mahfood.
No Remorse: The Illustrated True Stories of Lemmy Kilmister and Motörhead is a 176-page book that includes a foreward and afterword by friends and fellow rock legends Dave Grohl and Ozzy Ozbourne, one that aims to truly celebrate the life of one of rock and roll’s greatest.
Lemmy was truly one of a kind, a rock legend of music and excess, always destined for stardom. His journey to rock began with his starting out as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix; followed by joining the seminal space-rock outfit Hawkwind and famously getting fired from the band for ‘doing the wrong drugs,’ something Lemmy would continue to do for a mighty long time. Motörhead were formed in 1975 after his dismissal from Hawkwind, the idea being to really go loud, create music that assaulted the ears – and that he certainly did. If you don’t know the man and his music, go do a little Googling and read some of the wonderful stories of the man. Oh, and do yourselves a favour and give the music a listen as well – there’s a few selected tunes below.
“Anyone who ever crossed paths with Lemmy Kilmister left with a very unique experience and stories to share for a lifetime. The outpouring of those stories from his friends and family, paired with some of underground art’s greatest illustrators, brings Lemmy and Motörhead roaring back to life on every page.” – Josh Bernstein, Z2 President and the book’s co-editor/designer.
Like all Z2 books, you have a variety of editions, including the All-Access Edition which features a framed AAA Artist Pass from Lemmy’s 70th birthday party at the Whisky A Go-Go; the Backstage Edition that comes with a framed original 2012-2013 Motörhead tour laminate. All of these artifacts are from the personal collection of Lemmy Kilmister. The No Remorse editions of the book will come with an exclusive white vinyl variant of Motörhead’s No Remorse double LP, a poster triptych set by designer Hydro74, and a three-card collectors set presented in a custom frame featuring the art of iconic thrash-metal painter Ed Repka.
But the main draw will always be the book itself, with all collector editions including the oversized deluxe volume of No Remorse contained in a metallic foil embossed slipcase.
“Until then I’d never met what I’d call a real rock ‘n’ roll hero before. Fuck Elvis and Keith Richards, Lemmy’s the king of rock ‘n’ roll. A living, breathing, drinking, snorting, fucking legend. No one else comes close.” – Grohl on first meeting Lemmy.
The story contributors are Sir Neil Warnock (that’s the booking agent and friend of Lemmy not, as initially perplexed me, the football manager), Wayne Kramer, Michael Moorcock, Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Campbell, Chrissie Hynde, Kim McAuliffe, Slim Jim Phantom, Lars Ulrich, Neil Gaiman, Dee Snider, Slash, Steffan Chirazi, Lita Ford, Riki Rachtman, Penelope Spheeris, Dave Navarro, Mikkey Dee, Mikael Maglieri Jr., Todd Singerman, Lar Frederiksen, Dave Grohl, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, Matt Pinfield, Josh Bernstein, Steve Luna, Corey Graves.
The artist contributors are Piotr Kowalski, Pat Moriarity, John Bergin, Joe Simko, John Bivens, Chris Visions, Fred Harper, Bob Fingerman, Steve Chanks, Dave Chisholm, JayJay Jackson, Felipe Sobreiro, Gideon Kendall, Ron Joseph, Steve Kurth, Shane Patrick White, Jim Mahfood, Luke McGarry, Ryan Dunlavey, Koren Shadmi, Jeff McClelland, Jeff McComskey, Wes Hargis, Brent Engstrom, Erik Rodriguez, Sean Pryor, Josh Bernstein, Frank Powers, Tony Parker, Tim Bradstreet, Ed Repka, Hydro 74.
About Motörhead: Formed in 1975 by iconic bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, Motorhead’s aggressive sound gave rise to the new wave of British heavy metal. The band’s classic line-up, with drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor and guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke, brought next-level ferocity to the metal genre. Motörhead have released 23 studio albums, 10 live recordings, 12 compilation albums, and five EPs over a career spanning 40 years, with several successful singles in the UK Top 40. Enduring releases, Ace of Spades, Overkill, Iron Fist, and the live set, No Sleep ’til Hammersmith secured Motörhead their spot as perennial arena headliners. Motörhead are cited as seminal influencers by generations of thrash and speed metal bands, while Lemmy Kilmister is heralded as the poster-boy for the sex, drugs, and rock & roll lifestyle up to his 2015 passing.
NO REMORSE: THE ILLUSTRATED TRUE STORIES OF LEMMY KILMISTER AND MOTORHEAD – published by Z2 Comics Summer 2024
