3 months without Lemmy :(

Today in the British calendar it's Easter Monday, but today for the heavy metal fans it's much more deeper and personal. On December 28th, 2015. legendary Motorhead frontman Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister, met his grim demise after a very short battle with terminal brain and neck cancer. Tragically this happened two days after being diagnosed with the disease.

I couldn't really describe my emotions at the time, but one thing's for certain, I was truly in shock. I didn't believe my dad when he told me to check Facebook as there would be shocking news. I didn't expect it to be Lemmy. Often when there are bombshells like this being dropped it always tends to be someone in the family announcing their engagement or pregnancy. But his name was there, in black and white, on just about everybody's posts. I thought it was a hoax, it was all fake; after all Lemmy was defying all the odds and would apparently live forever! But when it was 'breaking news' on the BBC...things started to fall in to place all at once. He was gone, and nothing anyone could do could change it. I knew something was wrong deep down in my gut instinct but I didn't think it was that bad.

You can find a link to my Tumblr post from that night: http://black-rose-renegade.tumblr.com/post/136178767597/so-my-dad-came-in-this-morning-to-break-the

I bet I wasn't the only one who cried when watching his funeral weeks later. They sure gave him a jolly good send off.

R.I.P Lemmy. You will be missed by the entire heavy metal industry, the fans, and the people who loved you.

I'll leave you with a photo of his memorial in LA...and if you ask me, I think it fits the bill just nicely.

P.S. Big thanks to author Ian Carroll for printing my personal eulogy to Lemmy in his book 'Lemmy: Memories of a Rock n Roll Legend'. I will treasure it forever. Link to buy it and picture below. I'm Megan Taylor Ure...thank you for reading...peace out!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lemmy-Memories-Rock-Roll-Legend/dp/1530271754?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Jailbreak hits 40!

The 26th March marked a very special day in the Thin Lizzy calendar. On that day in 1976, Thin Lizzy's finest, Jailbreak was released. A true gem to ever hit the rock and roll charts, With hits such as ever famous 'The Boys are Back in Town", it was sure going down in the history books as one of the best albums of the 1970s...and certainly one for many generations to come. 

Happy 40th Anniversary!

Ronnie James Dio: Memories of a Rock 'N' Roll Icon

Just three months ago the author Ian Carroll, author of the famous book 'From Donington to Download', started appealing to Motorhead fans on Facebook for their memories on the legendary bassist/frontman Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister, who died tragically on December 28th, 2015, just 48 hours after learning he had terminal brain and neck cancer, The book was a huge success, hitting #1 in heavy metal book charts round the globe. All proceeds from the sale of the book are going to Cancer Research UK, so all in a good cause! 300+ pages of memories from fans far and wide, is certainly a good read, and to have my own page-and-a-half of my thoughts on Lemmy there in print is very empowering for me as a person who only writes as a hobby,

Now he's back, and making preparations for a new book of a similar theme, but this time, the focus is on legendary metal icon Ronnie James Dio. He has asked for memories of the latter, and of course being a fan I jumped to the opportunity. Calling all RJD, Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio, and Elf fans worldwide, this is your chance to relive your memories of the legend, as all contributions will be included! It's going to be good to see another one of my written pieces in print! First a childish poem about Spring I wrote at school, then a eulogy about Lemmy, now one about Dio! I thought 2016 was going to be bad, but things are certainly looking up! 

You can find a link to the book's page here: https://www.facebook.com/Ronnie-James-Dio-Memories-of-a-Rock-N-Roll-Icon-1253094674703996/?fref=nf

And now, without further a due, here is what I have written.

"I started listening to Dio when I was fifteen; the first album I listened to was Rising, the one he did vocals for with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, and the track was Stargazer. It was eight minutes of pure hard rock pleasure, and something I would never forget for the rest of my life. I knew I was going down to the record store to buy the record, even though at the time they were really hard to get, and considered retro. But luckily I managed to pick up a mint condition copy of it for just £8 – what a bargain considering at the time it was nearly thirty nine years old!

My love affair with Dio didn’t stop there. I moved on from Rainbow and onto the likes of Black Sabbath, which I’d become hooked on Mob Rules and Heaven & Hell, I just didn’t know who the singer was, until I heard Rainbow, and it clicked that it was the same powerful, gravelly voice that sang the vocals on Long Live Rock n Roll. Neon Knights became my favourite track alongside Holy Diver, which he did with his solo group, it’s what I, as an eclectic music fan would say, a true heavy metal anthem. The video is packed full of action, leaving you wondering what happens to him in the end.

Every fan that I have met through the internet or fan forums, are the high envy of me, either because they have had the privilege of meeting him or seeing him live, whether he was backed by Rainbow, Sabbath . The only regret I have is that I wasn’t born in time to see him perform whilst he was still alive, but like I always say, thank heavens for YouTube and Vimeo, many fans have uploaded their precious memories of the legend, a true god of metal.

Ronnie James Dio will go down in the history books as one of the pioneers of heavy metal and rock, no one can replace him, not even Rainbow’s new frontman, Ronnie Romero. My goal is to visit his plaque on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as after all, he truly deserved it.

Horns up, Dio. May you rest in peace."

Review of Lemmy: Memories of a Rock n Roll Legend by Ian Carroll

As most of you know by now the legendary frontman of British rock band Motorhead Mr Ian Fraser 'Lemmy' Kilmister met his grim demise on December 28th 2015, just two days after learning he had terminal cancer in his brain and neck. The whole world mourned as the news broke, many fans telling of their memories of watching his shows and even meeting him and his band. Memories of a Rock n Roll Legend is the perfect compilation of these.

I did not know anyone was writing a book about him until I received a friend request on Facebook from the author himself, as he had mutual friends. He was appealing for people to write a message to go inside the book, telling of their experiences of Lemmy. The word count was unlimited so people could really go to town on it. I spent a while thinking of what to write as I'd only been listening to Motorhead for just under two years at the time. (see my previous post for what I wrote)

The book itself is a very minimalistic design, but does exactly what it says on the tin. I enjoyed reading the foreword from the author as he explained the reasoning why he wrote the book. It follows memories from fans from country to country in alphabetical order, which is quite handy for those who want to delve straight into their own part. It would have been better if there was page numbers and a contents page so people would not get confused as in where in the book was the chapter about their country. Also, I couldn't help observing a lot of grammatical errors but overall I cannot fault it. It is a great read and it is wonderful to learn about other fans' experiences with one of the pioneers of hard rock and metal, some of which are pretty amusing, but that's just the icing on the cake! I love Carroll's idea of donating 75% of the book sales to Cancer Research, as it will definitely help others in need too. Lemmy would have been proud. I guarantee it.

Lemmy: Memories of a 'Rock n Roll' Legend

Hi

As most of you know a guy called Ian Carroll from the UK has written a book in tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. Over the last couple of weeks he’s been friending Motorhead fans on Facebook to get people to send in their thoughts and memories.

Here’s what I wrote for your delectation…I know it’s crap but what the hey…

Lemmy – well what can I say? Motorhead was one of the first heavy metal groups that I ever listened to, and looking back, I certainly have no regrets! When I first listened to Ace of Spades in Art in late 2013, I thought “Damn! They’re really good! I have to check out their entire catalogue!” I was totally hooked from that moment on. I had to have anything they had brought out, whether it was CD’s, tapes of old radio recordings, tshirts etc. The first thing Motorhead I bought was Ace of Spades on CD , and boy, I didn’t half play it to death. I needed another copy after a couple of months. But I didn’t stop there, I went on to get EVERYTHING, even a Snaggletooth pass case for my student cards. The only one regret I have is being born in the wrong generation. Being born at the end of the 1990s meant that I never got to see any of my idols live, including Motorhead themselves. Thank god for YouTube!

Lemmy became the highlight of all my conversations at school and at home, I drove my parents mad! I was completely and utterly obsessed! It went so far that even my pals used to call it me, but my theory is because of my obsession, nothing else. I hoarded all magazines that even just mentioned his name in the hope I could make a killing off of them some day. He was even the subject of my art exam!

I knew he hadn’t been well for a long time, but no one expected him to die suddenly. That morning when my dad told me to log on to Facebook as there was some shocking news. I was assuming it was a family member announcing their engagement or pregnancy, but it was Lemmy! Emotions? Speechless. At first I thought it was a hoax, like those that are flying round the internet, but when it came up as breaking news on BBC 1, my heart sank. Although I wasn’t related to this amazing, artistic, talented guy, I’d been listening to his music for just under two years and it became a part of my daily life. When he died, part of me died too.

I bet I wasn’t the only person who cried watching the live stream of his funeral that night…

I've yet to get the book myself, but I bet it will be good reading my own and other fans memories.

- Megan Taylor-Ure, 2016