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Lemmy is dead. Long live Lemmy: Musicians remember the Motörhead frontman.

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister performs with Motörhead in Berlin, Germany.
Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister performs with Motörhead in Berlin, Germany.
Photo by snapshot-photography/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, legendary front man and bass player for the heavy metal/rock/punk band Motörhead, died Monday evening at the age of 70, just two days after being diagnosed with cancer.

Probably best known for the fast, hard-driving, knock-you-upside-the-head song "Ace of Spades," Motörhead and frontman Lemmy brought a rip-roaring, aggressive sound and style whose influence can be heard in just about every song you've ever rocked out to. If you've never heard it before (and even if you have), stop for a minute and listen to Motörhead's "Ace of Spades":

Lemmy was idolized by nearly every person who's ever picked up a guitar — or just listened to one — for both his music and his bold, brash, no-apologies hard-living rock-and-roll lifestyle. As the man himself once said, "If you're going to be a fucking rock star, go be one. People don't want to see the guy next door on stage; they want to see a being from another planet."

As news of his death spread, musicians who knew him or were just inspired by him took to Twitter to remember the man many viewed as a rock-and-roll god:

And my favorite tribute of all, from Henry Rollins, a legend in his own right:

Because that's really all that needs to be said.

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