That’s one way to pay tribute to a friend.
Metallica frontman James Hetfield showed off his new Motörhead tattoo on Metallica’s official Instagram page. Hetfield’s new middle finger tattoo had Lemmy’s ashes in it. In the post, he wrote:
“With the steady hand of friend and tattoo artist Corey Miller, this tattoo. A salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister. Without him, there would be NO Metallica. Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me. So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world.”
How Lemmy Inspired Metallica
Metallica’s 2016 album, ‘Hardwired… To Self-Destruct,’ featured a track honoring Lemmy titled ‘Murder One.’ The track was named after Lemmy’s beloved amplifier. Hetfield said of the amplifier during an interview:
“I loved being murdered every night by that thing. He was just such an icon, such an inspiration to us as a band.”
He added:
“There’s certainly no way we’d be around if there was no Motörhead. And, you know, to see your idol, your immortal one, actually be mortal, it hit us pretty hard. So I felt, lyrically, it makes sense to acknowledge him and how much he’s meant in our lives.”
Lemmy’s Ashes Were Used In Other Places Too
Hetfield’s new tattoo is not the only place Lemmy’s ashes have been scattered in. A portion of the Motörhead icon’s remains will be displayed annually at the Derbyshire metal festival Bloodstock Open Air in August. They’ll reside at the Rock City venue in nearby Nottingham when not on display there.
More of Lemmy’s ashes were used in bullets at his request, and these were sent to some of his closest friends, like Judas Priest singer Rob Halford.
You can see Hetfield’s new tattoo below.
