On this day (April 17) in 2024, Metallica frontman James Hetfield revealed a new tattoo honoring the late, great Lemmy Kilmister. The design featured a spade over an iron cross, nods to one of Motorhead’s best-known songs and the British metal legend’s stylistic choices. Hetfield mixed Kilmister’s ashes into the ink used for the tattoo to deepen the tribute.
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Hetfield shared his new ink via Metallica’s official social media accounts. “With the steady hand of friend and tattoo artist Corey Miller, this tattoo, a salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister,” he wrote in the post. “Without him, there would be NO Metallica,” he added. “Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes so graciously given to me. So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world.”
[RELATED: The Often Overlooked Metallica Album from the 1990s You Need to Revisit]
Metallica Pays Tribute to Their Heroes
Today, Metallica is one of the biggest metal bands in the world. They spent most of the 1980s drawing in loyal metal fans with their first four records. Then, they achieved mainstream acclaim in the ’90s with a string of more accessible releases. More than 40 years after making their debut, the band is still making music and touring the world.
While the band gained early recognition, they never shied away from paying tribute to the bands and artists that inspired them. In fact, their earliest sets included several covers from Venom, Blitzkrieg, Mercyful Fate, and other New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands.
However, Metallica didn’t stop at paying tribute to the more obscure bands that influenced them. They also gave a nod to Motorhead in 1996 with Motorheadache. The four-song collection isn’t widely available today. However, fans could get their hands on it as part of the CD maxi-single for “Hero of the Day” from Load. It included covers of “Overkill,” “Damage Case,” “Stone Dead Forever,” and “Too Late Too Late.”
While the physical single isn’t easy to find today, fans can hear the Motorheadache collection as part of Garage Inc., which is available to stream across digital platforms.
Featured Image by Larry Marano/Shutterstock
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