Lemmy was the REAL THING–one of the last authentic rockers.  Everyone who knows and breathes hard rock has a special place in their DNA for Lemmy, and that understanding runs deep.  He has influenced countless numbers of musicians and bands and is a seminal part of the hard rock/metal genre.

This is where the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame loses all meaning. Every year there is the same controversial discussion, who got in and who didn’t. I always find it fascinating, as if getting in somehow gives an artist some kind of badge or extra seal of approval that makes them better than the rest.  It’s turned into such a joke.

When will people see the light?

Lemmy Kilmister and others like him who are the very essence of rock will always be so much bigger and mean so much more for the music they made and how they effected us and influenced so many other musicians than any institution, no matter what it’s called.

Lemmy didn’t just play rock. He WAS rock. And embodied everything that true rock is about.

You want a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  Then put everyone in who ever made a meaningful dent in the genre.  Because real rock is about rebellion, knowing no bounds, pushing everything to the limit, and can’t be bound or put into some kind of box or institution.  Real rock defies institutions by its very nature.  Lemmy defies the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

So how about each year instead of getting so wound about a place that can’t seem to find any integrity, we just celebrate the genre and ALL who have contributed.  Rock is free for anyone who feels it and the powerful euphoric feeling it brings–it’s all-inclusive–it, or any person or band that creates it doesn’t require any votes to decide it’s validity–rock just IS.

This year let’s start with Lemmy–one of the great fathers of hard rock, metal, and speed metal.

Lemmy Kilmister is dead–LONG LIVE LEMMY KILMISTER!

P.S.  I happened to be on vacation with family in Costa Rica last week when Lemmy died.  I told my older son (33 years) about Lemmy’s passing.  He was visibly moved and started to recite the “Ace Of Spades” lyrics!  I was floored.  “How do you know that?!”  He said that years ago when I was working with Slayer I turned him on to Lemmy, Motörhead, and the “Ace of Spades” as a most important example of hard rock/metal and speed metal origin.  He loved it.

Made my freaking day that Lemmy lives on to the next generation.  It also happened to be my birthday… gave me an extra big smile to send Lemmy’s way upstairs.

Rap~

Keep rockin’ kids—Lemmy would approve!

© Paul Rappaport 2016

Photo Credit: Andreas Lawen, Fotandi CC BY SA 3.0

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