Lemmy Kilmister dead: Motorhead will not tour or release new albums after frontman's death, drummer confirms

'Motorhead is over, of course. Lemmy was Motorhead.'

Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead performs live on the Pyramid stage during the first day of the Glastonbury Festival (Getty)

Motorhead will not continue without late frontman Lemmy Kilmister following his death from cancer aged 70.

The rock group were due to tour early next year but current drummer Mikkey Dee has confirmed that the band is now “over, of course”.

“Lemmy was Motorhead,” he told Swedish newspaper Expressen. “We won’t be doing any more tours or anything and there won’t be any more records. But the brand survives and Lemmy lives on in the hearts of everyone.”

Kilmister’s bandmates shared the sad news with Motorhead fans on Monday, explaining that his sudden death was caused be “an extremely aggressive cancer”. He had only received his diagnosis two days previously on Boxing Day and been touring in Europe last month.

“He was terribly thin, he spent all his energy onstage and then he was very, very tired,” Dee said. “It’s incredible that he could even play, that he could finish the European tour. It was only 20 days ago. It’s absolutely inconceivable.

“It feels fantastic that we were able to complete the tour with him. It’s heartening that we didn’t cancel because of Lemmy. I’m incredibly grateful over the years we had and that we had such a good time together.”

Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell, who joined the band in 1986, posted a tribute to his friend on Twitter earlier, writing: “My dear friend and brother passed away yesterday. Life won’t be the same. Thanks for all the well wishes. Play it loud.”

Others to honour Lemmy include Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osborne, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, Anthrax, Metallica, Bryan Adams and St Vincent.