Lemmy Quotes

You can’t win fame; you have to earn it. If you’re given fame without working for it, then you’re not going to be ready for it.

I was in the Rockin’ Vicars, which was the first British band to tour behind the Iron Curtain. A lot of photos were taken of us next to milk churns.

My father walked out on us when I was three months old, and my mum, well, she wasn’t the driven sort.

I never liked jazz or anything else. Early rock n’ roll – that was music to me. Everything else was boring.

The Beatles are the classical music of rock n’ roll. And rock n’ roll is far more widespread than classical will ever be.

‘Bomber‘ was the first song I wrote about war.

I’m not going to die broke, but I’m not rich.

I’m not a poker player; I play slot machines.

The more you learn about everything, the more you learn that everything’s fixed not in your favour.

Falling in love is terrible. It makes you act foolish, like an idiot.

I was never going to be a doctor or a lawyer, so being a musician seemed to be the best of what was on offer.

I always open doors for women. It’s just good manners.

I can never be anonymous – especially when I walk round looking like this; especially when I take so much trouble not to be anonymous, right?

There’s no point thinking about dying, because it’s going to happen anyway, isn’t it? I don’t waste my time worrying about that.

I didn’t really want to be in the lifestyle without the music. And I didn’t want to be in the music without the lifestyle.

Some songs, you just can’t shake; they keep creeping back into your set list.

Rock n’ roll sounded like music from another planet. The first time around, we had people like Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis – all them people.

Rock n’ roll’s had a good time out of me – and I’ve had a very good time out of rock n’ roll.

My hearing is usually O.K.

Good manners don’t cost nothing.

I can’t say I was really that surprised when the doctor told me I needed a defibrillator inserted in my chest. When you’ve lived the life that I have, you should always expect something like that to crop up. I was not a good boy.

I’ve never met a girl who could stop me looking at all the others. If I did, I’d marry her.

The Beatles were from Liverpool. It’s a hard town. The Stones weren’t the hard men. They just dressed up. The Beatles were the hard men.

I make a very good steak.

The thing about death is it’s so final, isn’t it, really? As far as we know… Nobody has ever come back and told us about it.

I like touring; I live on the road, more or less.

It’s much more fun to be full of hope than pessimism any day of the week.

I am emphatically not a Nazi.

I always thought we had more in common with punk than with anything else, but we had long hair, so we didn’t fit in that box.

I’m against any religion, and Communism and Nazism – they’re both equally religions. They’re just replacement gods.

The hippie era was a wonderful time because we still believed we could make the world a better place.

I find it quite easy to play chords, and, you know, that was all I ever did. I never wanted to be a lead guitarist.

I hate golf! I still can’t believe Alice Cooper plays golf!

I don’t want to advise anyone to do anything, apart from try and stay alive. That’s my advice – don’t die.

I’ve always been very wordy; I’ve got a great vocabulary.

I am emphatically not a Nazi.

Got two kids; one’s a record producer who lives just up the road from me – great guitarist and piano player, too.

I don’t know, I’ve always written songs that are mainly about attitude, not me personally.

My persona has given me a certain notoriety, if not international celebrity.

I’ve never met a girl who could stop me looking at all the others. If I did, I’d marry her.

I listen to everything from Ravel to the Bee Gees.

In 1967, I had my first black girlfriend, and a lot more ever since then. I just don’t understand racism. I never thought it was an option.

Human nature is to blame for everything, innit? We’re just a disease on this planet.

It’s when you get to 60 when everything starts to go pear-shaped. Everyone thinks that becoming an older guy is easy, but you never consider it fully. It comes as quite a shock.

I do quite like that Andrew Lloyd Webber song from ‘Cats.’ What’s it called? ‘Memory?’ Sends shivers up your spine.

You learn all the best stuff in life after you leave school.

Kids are generally rotten until the age of about six, when they become people.

I saw the Beatles play the Cavern in Liverpool when I was 16. They had attitude: Onstage, they were like a four-headed monster.

In your twenties, you think you are immortal. In your thirties, you hope you are immortal.

I saw the Beatles play the Cavern in Liverpool when I was 16. They had attitude: Onstage, they were like a four-headed monster.

I don’t like people’s table manners. That really puts you off eating food.

Nobody in the world could possibly be as mean as I look, could they?

I don’t really admire musicianship per se – as is obvious from my own playing.

I dislike religion quite intensely. It’s been the cause of all the grief in the world ever since they discovered the first stone to worship.

I don’t only collect Nazi stuff; I collect objects from all the Axis countries.

Everyone wants to be safe. Well, I got news for you: You can’t be safe. Life’s not safe. Your work isn’t safe. When you leave the house, it isn’t safe. The air you breathe isn’t going to be safe, not for very long. That’s why you have to enjoy the moment.

It’s very much up to you, how you shape your life. I mean, I missed out on human relationships. But looking at relationships that I’ve seen along the way, I don’t think I’ve missed much.

Everyone gets depressed. But what do you do? You just go through it.

We’ve made bad albums in the past, and people have bought them. I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m just grateful for it.