KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has paid tribute to Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, saying that the iconic MOTÖRHEAD frontman was “a special kind of a guy” who “deserves a lot more kudos than he’s gotten.”
During a December 29 appearance on Ozzy’s Boneyard (SiriusXM channel 38), Simmons said about Lemmy (hear audio below): “Although most people wanna mourn Lemmy‘s death, and rightfully so, maybe a brighter thing to do is to celebrate his life. Because our history with Lemmy goes all the way back to HAWKWIND. KISS took HAWKWIND out way in the early days when Stacia was a dancer with the band. In fact, Stacy and I used to hang and just talk, and she always used to talk about Lemmy. And then, slowly but surely, I got to know Lemmy through the years.”
Gene also talked about Lemmy‘s wit, honesty and undying devotion to his friends. He said: “Lemmy, and Ozzy has this too, this kind of… If they like something, it doesn’t matter if it’s from the same genre. Ozzy will point his finger at THE BEATLES, whereas lots of other guys who turn up the guitar — whether you call it hard rock or heavy metal or thrash or take you pick — are afraid to actually say, ‘Yeah, I like ABBA.’ Lemmy was honest through and through. His insides, his heart and his mouth and his mind were connected. And truth is a hard thing to find, ’cause everybody is trying to negotiate: ‘How do I negotiate these streets to have people think I’m cool?’ He didn’t give a squat. He basically took a very individual kind of… ‘Hey, this is who I am. I don’t care if it’s popular to be a hair band or [wear] lipstick. I’m Lemmy. That’s who I am.’ And maybe we should all learn something from that.”