A statue of the late Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister will be erected in his hometown of Burslem, which is part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.
Plans for the 2.25-meter (7-foot, 5-inch) bronze sculpture have been approved, according to the BBC, despite police concerns that the statue could generate “good-natured but potentially incident generating attention” — namely revelers climbing the plinth to pose with Lemmy or causing vandalism. It will be located in Burslem’s Market Place.
Local sculptor Andy Edwards will be constructing the statue out of Staffordshire clay, having previously created sculptures of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor at Derby County FC and The Beatles on Liverpool’s Pier Head. An artist rendering (seen above) depicts Lemmy in his iconic stage pose, singing upward toward the skies with the microphone placed abnormally high above him.
Following the aforementioned concern from local authorities, Edwards agreed to increase the height of the statue’s plinth from 2.5 to 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches), and the material for the plinth has also been changed from polished black granite to sandstone, matching nearby landmarks such as the Queens Theatre and the former town hall.
It won’t be the first time Lemmy has been immortalized in statue form. Two years ago, the Motörhead great became a permanent beacon for attendees of the French metal festival Hellfest, and a giant Lemmy sculpture — enshrined with his ashes — now looms over the festival grounds in Clisson. Moreover, a life-size statue of Lemmy resides at West Hollywood, California’s Rainbow Bar & Grill, where the rock legend was a regular until his passing in 2015.
