Remembering Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister: Performing ‘Silver Machine’ With Hawkwind

Today is the one year anniversary of the death of legendary musician Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister who passed away just days after turning 70. The hard living, hard rocking bassist for the heavy British band Motörhead, Lemmy’s successful career got a boost when he joined the space rock outfit Hawkwind in the early-1970s. In tribute to Lemmy, here’s a look back at an archival Hawkwind performance featuring a young Kilmister fronting the group.

Following a stint as a member of Jimi Hendrix’s road crew, Lemmy became a member of Hawkwind in 1971. Contributing bass and vocals, he would eventually be kicked out of the group in 1975 before establishing Motörhead.

Hawkwind achieved critical and commercial success behind the Lemmy-sung single “Silver Machine” which they first issued in 1972. The group appeared on the BBC program Top Of The Pops that featured video from July 7, 1972 at Dunstable Civic Hall in England. Shown below, the concert footage was paired with audio from a February 1972 show at The Roundhouse in London that had been released as a Top 10 single.

Here’s Lemmy in action on lead vocals with Hawkwind back in ’72, watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yao_T2adl14