One of the big stories of 2013 was the health of one of the all-time icons of heavy metal, Motorhead frontman Lemmy Killmister. Between suffering from diabetes, a defibrilator installed, dealing with a bout of hematoma, and cancelling a few tours, 2013 was not the best year for the metal god.
In a recent interview with NY Times, Lemmy said he's given up whiskey and cigarettes and only drinks wine now. We were optimistic. Turns out, it's not that easy for Lemmy to change his ways.
In the cover story of February 2014 issue of Decibel Magazine, Motorhead's manager Todd Singerman gave an update on Lemmy's condition, and it's hard to get an old dog to change its ways:
"[Lemmy's] been up and down," says Singerman. "He's got a really bad diabetic problem, and it changes on a daily basis. A lot of it is just fighting the bad habits, the things that he's not supposed to do anymore. He's stopped smoking, but he probably sneaks Jack and Coke here and there. He'd be lying to you if he said he stopped. He's been trying to substitute it with wine, and I'm sure he's slowed down on the speed. He thinks wine's better than Jack, but it's still got tons of sugar, you know? He doesn't grasp that he's just trading one demon for the other. That was the compromise with the doctors, by the way — trade the Jack for the wine. But he doesn't tell them he's drinking two fucking bottles, either. These are the battles we're up against. Keep in mind, he's been doing all this stuff on a daily basis since Hendrix. And it's coming to roost. It's sad for him, because he's gotten away with this stuff for all this time.
"I made them cancel [the European tour], because Lemmy's not ready," Singerman explains. "He didn't wanna cancel. But what was gonna go down is what happened in Europe over the summer. See, he fucked up in Europe. He was supposed to rest for three months, and he refused. He ended up doing that show [Wacken Open Air in August], which he wasn't supposed to do, and it ended up being 105 degrees "Out there. He's playing direct in the fucking sun. The only thing I'm proud of him for is stopping when it didn't feel good. That was smart of him. The bottom line is that he needs to find a balance and then live that balance for a few months. But we can't find the balance yet. He has great days and then he fucks it up. And when you fuck up, you go backwards."
Well, at least Lemmy is trying! It must be hard to live life at full speed, never hearing the word "stop" or "no" and then one day realizing, oh wait, my body is broken down. We hope Lemmy continues to take the steps to bring him to the road to sobriety and long life. Heavy metal needs Lemmy!
[via Blabbermouth]
