RIP Lemmy the wild man of rock

Lemmy was raised in Madeley, three miles into Staffordshire. He died 5,299 miles away, in Los Angeles, four days after his 70th birthday. He had developed an extremely aggressive cancer, which was diagnosed just two days before his death.

The star had been born Ian Fraser Kilmister, in Burslem, on the day that the Second World War ended. He grew up just eight miles from Madeley High, a coeducational secondary school whose other famous former pupils included Peter Bebbs, the Hollywood special effects genius best known for his work on The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, several Harry Potter movies and James Bond's Die Another Day.

The working class landscape of Lemmy's home town helped to influence his musical outlook. Heavy industries such as mining and the manufacture of steel and pots informed his heavy rock sound. He returned to the region on numerous occasions, frequently playing Wolverhampton's Civic Hall. A gig in 2012 was cancelled, however, after Lemmy had to have a pacemaker fitted because of heart problems.

The cancellation disappointed the singer. "We have made the decision because I am not quite ready to hit the road yet, and am working my way back to full fitness and rude health.

"Don't worry, I'm not about to start promoting veganism and alcohol-free beverages, but it is fair to say that I personally have been reconfiguring areas of my life to make sure I can come back fitter and stronger than ever.

"When people come to see a Motörhead tour, they expect a Motörhead show, and that is exactly what you will get as soon as I am fit and ready to rumble." The band had been due to hit the road again later this month, with a spring tour starting in January.

Lemmy came from a broken home, his mother and father separated when he was just three months old and Lemmy moved from Burslem to Newcastle-under-Lyme and then to Madeley during his formative years. At the age of 10, he left the border between north Shropshire and south Staffordshire, relocating to a farm in Benllech, in Anglesey, North Wales. His mother had remarried, finding a partner in former Wolverhampton Wanderers, Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra footballer George Willis.

Willis had two children from a previous marriage, Patricia and Tony, but Lemmy did not get along with them and found his move to Benllech an isolating experience. It was anything but idyllic. In an interview in 2007, he said: "Funnily enough, being the only English kid among 700 Welsh ones didn't make for the happiest time – but it was interesting from an anthropological point of view.

"I was 13 and living in Benllech and I knew this guy called Tom who had a prosthetic arm. One night we sneaked into this Girl Guides camp and, you know, started getting down to business.

"So there I am bathing in the soft after-glow in some girl's tent when, all of a sudden, I hear 'Whack! Ow! Whack! Ow!'. I thought, 'what the bloody hell is that'? and looked out to see Tom running naked down the road with this Guide mistress belting him over the head with his own false arm."

He had already learned how to woo girls after seeing how a fellow pupil had been 'surrounded by chicks' when he took a guitar to school. Lemmy copied, taking his mother's guitar into lessons, even though he couldn't play. "In those days just having a guitar was enough… that was it." He went on to bed more than 1,000 women. "I said more than a thousand, the magazine made two thousand of it."

Lemmy earned his nickname during those early years after continually asking people to 'lemmy (lend me) a quid until Friday'. The money he borrowed fed his addiction to slot machines. As Lemmy moved through his teens, his interest in girls, rock'n'roll and horses grew.

Though he worked in a number of menial jobs, including one at a Hotpoint electric appliance factory, before drifting into playing guitar for local bands, including one called The Sundowners. At the age of 16, he saw The Beatles play at the Cavern Club, marvelling at John Lennon's sarcastic attitude, and soon after he followed a girl to Stockport, where he played in local bands like The Rainmakers and The Rockin' Vickers.

During the swinging sixties, all roads led to London and Lemmy moved to the Capital to share a flat with Jimi Hendrix's bassist, Noel Redding, and manager, Neville Chesters. He became a Hendrix roadie before joining Sam Gopal, a psychedelic rock band.

"I was driving a van carrying all Jimi's gear while tripping on acid. I was wearing those stupid hippy, prism sunglasses and I could see about 16 roads in front of me. I just aimed for the middle four roads and we got there okay in the end."

During the late 1960s, he played in other bands and then in 1972 he joined the space rock band Hawkwind as singer and vocalist. It didn't last long. Three years later he was arrested during an American tour for possession of speed: Lemmy was fired.

The singing bassist formed a new band, which became Motörhead, and never looked back. During a remarkable 40-year career, his band became one of the most influential in the history of rock, enjoying hits with Ace of Spades and a number one live album with No Sleep 'til Hammersmith.

His carousing didn't stop and he maintained his appetite for a pack-and-a-half of cigarettes each day, in addition to a bottle of Jack Daniels and chicks. He was famously told never to give blood because it might kill other people. "The doctors said my blood was far too toxic for other humans. They said, 'whatever you do, don't let him give any blood transfusions' – there was all sorts of s*** in my system."

Lemmy had once told a journalist that he didn't fear death. "I will be killed by death. I might be killed by too much booze, women or music, but it's not a bad way to die."