Motörhead was formed in 1975 by bassist and vocalist Ian Fraser Kilmister , Lemmy , who remains the only constant member of the band to this day. After being fired from his band Hawkwind , Lemmy recruited guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox Motörhead , a name given in homage to the last song he had written with his former band. Even before their first album, Fox was replaced by Phil Taylor , while Eddie Clarke took Wallis's place. The lineup of Lemmy with Taylor and Clarke is considered the classic Motörhead lineup.
With this lineup, Motörhead released their first four albums: Motörhead , Overkill , Bomber , and Ace of Spades . In '82, Clarke left the band and Mick Wurzel and Phil Campbell joined, transforming the band into a quartet. Around the same time, Taylor also left and was replaced by Pete Gill , but only during the album Orgasmatron in '86. Taylor returned to record two more albums and left again, giving way to the Swede Mikkey Dee .
In 1992, the band released the album that became their biggest commercial success, March ör Die , featuring guest appearances by Slash and Ozzy Osbourne . The album featured three drummers: Phil Taylor, Mikkey Dee, and Tommy Aldridge (for most tracks). On their 12th album, Sacrifice , Wurzel left the band, and Motörhead returned to being a trio.
Fusing heavy metal and punk rock, Lemmy's band helped create speed and thrash metal, which came later. Motörhead released 21 studio albums, 10 live albums, and 5 EPs, selling over 30 million albums worldwide. Lemmy passed away in 2015.
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