"Though they haven't achieved widespread commercial success, Motorhead, led by rough-and-tumble singer/bassist Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister, is one of the most revered underground metal bands and one of the most influential in the speed metal movement. Lemmy, who got his nickname because he was constantly borrowing money (as in, 'Lemme a fiver'), started out as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and went on to play in the space-rock band Hawkwind. After he was fired for 'doing the wrong drugs,' as he put it, he formed Motorhead in 1975 . . . Motorhead's signature song, 'Ace of Spades,' is about the band playing poker in their tour van while it was barreling down the highways of Europe at 100 miles an hour."

- David Konow, Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal, 2002

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