Late Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister will be honoured with a huge supergroup tribute from Alice Cooper’s Hollywood Vampires at the 28th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles later this month.
In a statement, The Grammy Awards say The Hollywood Vampires‘ performance will feature Cooper, Johnny Depp, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, Tommy Henriksen, Bruce Witkin, former Guns N’ Roses member Matt Sorum and current Guns N’ Roses member Duff McKagan.
Speaking with Rolling Stone about his band’s Lemmy tribute, Cooper says the group’s genesis makes them a fitting match for such a big Lemmy sendoff.
“We started this band as a means to toast our ‘dead drunk friends’ at the Rainbow, all the ghosts in the bar, and now I guess Lemmy is involved in that, too,” Cooper says.
As for what The Hollywood Vampires will perform in Lemmy’s honour, Cooper is hoping to tackle Motörhead’s Ace Of Spades. “I might do it more ‘Alice Cooper style,’ but it would still have to have that growl, that guttural voice to make it work,” he says. “I can’t picture, like, Creedence Clearwater [Revival] doing that song.”
Reflecting on Lemmy, Cooper says he remembers when the Englishman approached him with an important message only a few weeks before his death in December at the age of 70. “Lemmy came up to me and said, ‘Alice, I’ve quit drinking.’ And he’s got a glass in his hand. And I go, ‘Really?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, I don’t drink whiskey anymore. I drink vodka,'” Copper says.
“And I went, ‘Lemmy, do you think your liver has any idea what color the alcohol is?’ He said, well it’s a step down from whiskey.’ And I went, ‘OK. Any step’s a good step.’
“Lemmy was one of those salt-of-the-earth guys. Find me somebody who didn’t love Lemmy. He’s just one of those guys that’s impossible not to like.”
Kilmister’s life has already been honoured in a number of epic musical tributes, including one from a Dave Grohl and Phil Anselmo-led supergroup and another from Corey Taylor, Dave Lombardo and Metal Allegiance. The rocker’s official cause of death was revealed in late January.
The Hollywood Vampires will use this year’s Grammys to premiere their new song As Bad As I am, from the upcoming deluxe edition of their 2015 debut album. The ceremony will take place on Monday, 15th February at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and will also see Lady Gaga perform a tribute to the late David Bowie.
Gallery: 13 Photos Of Lemmy Kilmister At His Most Badass
