Fallen Music Heroes

Yesterday was a sad day hearing about the news of Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead passing away. He has been on my mind lately. I had the opportunity to meet him in 2011, and there was that feeling of meeting music royalty at that time. I remember thinking he was much shorter in person, because in my mind over the many years, he seemed like a giant, but in realty, he still was a giant. He was an incredibly nice and a uber-cool guy.

The last few months, I would take note of his various health issues happening, and I was concerned yet hopeful. When I saw the video of him walking off stage in September because he was not feeling well, I was super concerned, but then felt okay hearing reports he was fine. That video was also impressive to me – how the crowd reacted. “We love you Lemmy”. You know he puts it all out every time, and that was incredibly hard for him to not perform that night. The crowd knew it.

When he passed away I began thinking about the music heroes to me that have gone. And more importantly, how we all react to the news. Music is special. It’s a gift given to all of us by these musicians. It’s something that sometimes we take for granted. Music is something we share with the musicians, something we share with our friends and family. It’s that invisible bound we share. It’s something that connects us to time and place and is closely tied with our emotions, tied with our youth, tied with our past. When a musician that has had an impact passes away, a little piece of you dies as well. Thankfully, the music lives on. There is a mourning process, and that is what we can still do together. Listen to some Motorhead, and look up and whisper – ‘Give ’em hell Lemmy’.

What were some of the musicians that affected you when you heard of them passing away? Comment below.