Statue of Motörhead singer Lemmy unveiled

A statue of legendary heavy metal frontman Lemmy Kilmister has been unveiled in the late singer's hometown.

Hundreds of music fans flocked into Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, throughout Friday before the black-coloured 2.25m bronze-cast statue was uncovered in Market Place shortly before 17:00 BST.

The memorial to the Motörhead singer and bassist has been created by local sculptor Andy Edwards and marks 10 years since Lemmy's death and 50 years since the band was formed.

Guests and speakers at the ceremony included the band's guitarist Phil Campbell, who previously described the sculpture as "amazing".

Motörhead fan Nobby, who was at the ceremony, told BBC Radio Stoke he had been following the band since he was 15 and described the unveiling as "absolutely awesome".

"It's unbelievable - it looks alive. Looking at it now, he really has captured Lemmy to a tee. It's brilliant," he said.

"It's well worth the wait, well worth everything and I hope it brings people to Burslem to see it."

The statue contains some of Lemmy's ashes, which were accompanied to the ceremony by a procession of motorbikes.

It depicts Lemmy in his iconic pose singing up towards a microphone while playing a Rickenbacker bass guitar.

Mr Edwards has previously created sculptures of The Beatles, Bob Marley, Sir Alex Ferguson, Muhammed Ali and the Bee Gees.

He described Lemmy as his hero while he was growing up and said he was a big part of his life.

"Of all the figures in music, there aren't that many that have the unique stature that Lemmy does," he said.

"He's like an avatar of the purest spirit of rock and roll - he's one of us. I think it's right that it [the statue] has been made locally."

The singer, real name Ian Fraser Kilmister, was born in Burslem in 1945 and later lived in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme and Madeley.

He joined Hawkwind as a bassist and vocalist in 1971 before forming Motörhead four years later.

The band went on to release 23 studio albums in a career spanning 40 years until Lemmy's death on 28 December 2015, which came after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

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