Lemmy Kilmister, Motrhead's fearless leader, mourned by music fans

The world has heard its last "We are Motrhead and we play rock 'n' roll."

It was the infamous taglineIan (Lemmy) Kilmister or just Lemmy to his millions of fans rasped before every live performance.

The hard-living founder, singer and bassist ofthe British heavy rock bandMotrhead which earlier this year celebrated its 40th anniversary with a tour and Motrboat music cruise died on Dec. 28, days after a cancer diagnosis.

He was 70.

The remaining band members confirmed on Tuesday that Motrhead would not continue without Lemmy, telling a Swedish newspaper that "Lemmy was Motrhead."

The world learned of his death around 8p.m. ET on Monday, and the band quickly confirmed the news on its official Facebook page.

The outpouring of condolences, vintage Lemmy photos, YouTubevideos andMotrhead-related memories from fans, friends and bands was swift and voluminous.

A musical legacy.

Lemmy formed Motrhead after being expelled from his previous psych/prog-rock band Hawkwind for using too much speed, an amphetamine Lemmy was fond of. He formedMotrhead in 1975, naming his new band after the last song he'd written for Hawkwind (Motrhead is also slang for "speedfreak").

Lemmy's musical prowess was inspirational to generations of musicians, with hundreds of punk, rock and metal bands expressing their sadness over his death.

Lemmywasmourned at his favourite bar.

Lemmy'slove for the Los Angeles bar the Rainbow Bar and Grillwhere he for years played the samevideo-lottery terminalanddrank Jack Daniels and Coke (he had recentlyswitchedto orange juice and vodka for his health)was well documented. Tourists often headed to the bar to see if they could find him and snap a photo with him.

Tributes toLemmy sprang up at his video poker machine overnight.

Rest in power, Lemmy.