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Lemmy On AC/DC In Their Early Years: “It Was Obvious They Were Going To Be Huge”

Hear a previously unheard Lemmy interview in which the Motörhead legend recalls his first time seeing the mighty AC/DC.

Lemmy On AC/DC In Their Early Years: “It Was Obvious They Were Going To Be Huge”
Photo:
Chris Casey

In a previously-unheard Lemmy interview from 2015, the late Motörhead can not only be heard paying tribute to fellow musical legends AC/DC, but also recalling his very first time seeing the rock titans and predicting a bright future for them.

“AC/DC are a rock’n’roll band – they’re like us,” he enthuses in the interview, which has been uploaded to series two, episode one of the AC/DC: Beyond The Thunder podcast. “We don’t play metal and AC/DC don’t play metal. Deep Purple doesn’t play metal. It’s been interpreted as that but this was before the term ‘heavy metal’ existed. There’s not much heavy metal that’s my kind of music.”

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Lemmy later adds of any similarities between his band and AC/DC: “We’re basically from the same time. We’re birds of a feather. We played a little faster than them!”

He also remembers pondering how the band “were going to be huge” as he watched them live for the first time many years ago, explaining: “I went to see them at a pub – I saw Sex Pistols there as well – The Nashville in West Kensington. It’s called the Famous 3 Kings now – that was a great place and everybody played there.

“They were over from Australia for a tour and Bon Scott did the running round the boozer with Angus Young on his shoulders. It was obvious they were going to be huge.”

It was recently confirmed that a new biopic about the late, great Lemmy is set to go into production early next year. The movie will be navigated by Greg Olliver, who also worked on the 2010 documentary of the same name.

“Everything you’ve heard about Lemmy is probably true… not because he was embracing rock’n’roll clichés, but because he was creating them,” he said. “Marlboro Reds and Jack Daniel’s for breakfast, speed for dinner – all true.

“But behind that steely-eyed façade of rock’n’roll was also a compelling, complicated and lion-hearted man who stayed the course and never gave up playing the music that made him happy. We’ve been carefully developing this biopic since 2013, making sure to stay true to Lemmy, Motörhead band members Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, and all the other folks that played important roles in Lemmy’s life. This will be a film they’ll be proud of.”

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