Motorhead guitarist Phil Campbell has defended his late ex-band mate, Lemmy Kilmister, against accusations that he was a ‘Nazi sympathizer’.
Kilmister was known to wear Iron Crosses and hats from the German air force and had a collection of military paraphernalia including nazi related objects from World War II. However, the rock legend had publicly condemned racism. “I’ve got friends of all colors and religious persuasions. I ain’t got a racist bone in my body,” he said in an interview.
“I don’t only collect Nazi stuff, I collect objects from all the ‘axis countries.’ Also from countries who aren’t even mentioned anymore as former part of the axis. Like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Hungary,” Kilmister said in another interview,
Regardless, a Motorhead fan from Venezuela posted a tweet about Kilmister, compliemnting him on being the “the best rocker in history” despite his “Nazi tendencies”. Campbell saw the tweet and quickly shut down the notion that his former bandmate had “Nazi tendancies” and that he was simply a historian.
FYI, Lemmy DID NOT, have any Nazi tendencies. He was a historian. https://t.co/mut44xTyjf
— Phil Campbell (@MotorheadPhil) June 4, 2022
Shortly after Campbelsl response, Kilmister’s former bandmate in Headcats Slim Jim Phantom then chimed in, too. “Phil Campbell is 100% correct & I will vouch for this true statement all day long. Best, SJP,” he commented.
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Motorhead drummer Mikey Dee has formerly said that Kilmister “hated fucking Nazis”.
“A lot of people judged him on the fact that he collected war stuff. A lot of people did not look behind the curtain. He hated fucking Nazis. He hated stupidity and he was fascinated by the stupidity of the human race. He would probably write some incredible lyrics about it — he thought it was so ridiculous.”
Lemmy died in December 2015, aged 70. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer just two days before his death. The Motörhead icon had battled many health issues for the last few years of his life.
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