[UPATE: the band have canceled their European tour] If there’s one thing 2013 reminded us of, it’s that no one is invincible, not even Lemmy. The Motörhead frontman’s health issues came up over and over and over during the year. We haven’t had an update in a little while, but Motörhead manager Todd Singerman talked to Decibel magazine about Lemmy’s status and, while not wholly surprising, it’s a little depressing.
Singerman says the following on Lemmy’s health:
“[Lemmy’s] been up and down. He’s got a really bad diabetic problem, and it changes on a daily basis. A lot of it is just fighting the bad habits, the things that he’s not supposed to do anymore. He’s stopped smoking, but he probably sneaks Jack and Coke here and there. He’d be lying to you if he said he stopped. He’s been trying to substitute it with wine, and I’m sure he’s slowed down on the speed. He thinks wine’s better than Jack, but it’s still got tons of sugar, you know? He doesn’t grasp that he’s just trading one demon for the other. That was the compromise with the doctors, by the way — trade the Jack for the wine. But he doesn’t tell them he’s drinking two fucking bottles, either. These are the battles we’re up against. Keep in mind, he’s been doing all this stuff on a daily basis since Hendrix. And it’s coming to roost. It’s sad for him, because he’s gotten away with this stuff for all this time.
“I made them cancel [the European tour], because Lemmy’s not ready. He didn’t wanna cancel. But what was gonna go down is what happened in Europe over the summer. See, he fucked up in Europe. He was supposed to rest for three months, and he refused. He ended up doing that show [Wacken Open Air in August], which he wasn’t supposed to do, and it ended up being 105 degrees out there. He’s playing direct in the fucking sun. The only thing I’m proud of him for is stopping when it didn’t feel good. That was smart of him. The bottom line is that he needs to find a balance and then live that balance for a few months. But we can’t find the balance yet. He has great days and then he fucks it up. And when you fuck up, you go backwards.”
Being 68 years old with all of this going on, we can’t say we expected Lemmy to pull a turnaround and come back full force. Motörhead’s rescheduled European tour dates are coming up next month with an US tour after that, so fans will get to see for themselves how Lemmy is holding up.
