RIP Wurzel

[ElectricWiz]

Ex-Motorhead Wurzel is no more. His first Motorhead appearance (minus Killed by Death single) was Orgasmatron, which is still probably my overall favorite Motorhead record, and was the, 'spiritual,' restart of the band.

RIP.

 

[Wyvern]

Rest in peace indeed.

Also worth to check the project (Warhead) he did with Evo from Warfare and Algy Ward from Tank.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Damn, beat me to it. Thought I knew about this first. Anyways R.I.P. I loved Orgasmatron among others with him. This is the article I read:

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=657703&gt1=28102

 

[mdmatt4ever]

lemmy made a comment yet?

 

[Wyvern]

lemmy made a comment yet?

A bit here:

http://www.metal-rules.com/metalnew...y-gave-wurzel-his-name-in-the-back-of-a-taxi/

Nothing on their official website yet.

 

[Mxgonzo]

R.I.P. Wurzel

 

[Donar Wotansohn]

Wurzel's first appearance with Motorhead
from an episode of THE YOUNG ONES

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co9yv2NjyWs&feature=fvst[/ame]

 

[Wyvern]

Official from the band:

We are greatly saddened to confirm that our long-time friend and comrade Würzel died Saturday at his home. Würz was pouring a Guinness and cracking a joke when he succumbed to a heart attack; at least we know he went with a smile.

It is a cliche to say that words cannot describe how we feel, and in this case, other than ones such as 'shit' and 'awful' and 'very very sad' it is true, they really can't.

We all shared many many great times together, and what he did for Motörhead is quite simply indelible. As our good friend Steve 'Krusher' Joule said, "RIP dear Würzel, a rocker and a gentleman."

From Lemmy: “Wurzel was my friend and my brother and he's never going to laugh with me again or bitch me out or do….anything. And that truly and cosmically SUCKS. RIP Wurz Godspeed. Good Man.”

Heavy Metal fans are known for being aggressive and fairly angry people. If you haven’t been to a metal concert let me explain what happens. When the music starts to sprawl out of their speakers, a loud euphoric sense of metal rage starts to engulf the participants in this bastion of ritual mawshing and screaming. Trust me when I say they live up to their reputation, but when one of their own passes away, all past assumptions are thrown out the window. On July 9th, the guitarist from Motörhead died of ventricular fibrillation caused by heart disease. The single named Würzel was 61 when he passed and had all metal fans in tears.

Michael Burston, aka Wurzel, was born in 1949 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He joined Motörhead in 1984 alongside the second guitarist Phil Campbell after Brian Robertson's short-lived time with the group. According to Spinner, Wurzel joined the band after writing a letter to Lemmy, the lead singer of Motorhead: “I wrote [Lemmy] a letter and sent a tape, and he phoned me up for an audition. He also said, 'We'll probably end up with an unknown guitarist', and there was no one in the country who was more unknown than I was.”

Burston also played on nine studio and live albums with Motörhead. He quit the band in 1995, but after his departure, he would occasionally perform in subsequent albums the group would make. While most of us are thinking this guy is a badass, wait until you hear this: what makes the guitarist more metal than the fans he played too, a term that can be equally enduring, was that he was a corporal in the British Army. It was there where he earned his nickname, Wurzel, on the account of his grizzly appearance, which made him a perfect fit for the rest of this group.

For many fans who listen to heavy metal or hard rock, there are three bands that immediately come to mind when contemplating the precursors to the genre. The first band is Black Sabbath. You know that group, the one who is led by Ozzy Osbourne before his drug addictions carried him away into a crazy train. The next one is Thin Lizzy, the only hard rock group of that time who had an Irish black guy as the lead singer. Finally, the group that inspires most people to cherish their Slayer records with heightened anger is that little band from London, Motorhead. Throughout the late 1970’s and 80’s Motorhead spread it’s metal wings to a wide range of audiences and was, along with Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, one of the founders of heavy metal. Wurzel's legacy won’t be forgotten.

 

[mdmatt4ever]

why did he ever leave motorhead to begin with? issues with lemmy?

 

[Wyvern]

why did he ever leave motorhead to begin with? issues with lemmy?

I can recall exactly why, Lemmy said it in an interview some years ago (maybe Ruben remembers better). I think some info is on the bonus material of either the "25 Alive & Boneshaker" or the "Stage Fright" DVDs.

Something along the line of musical differences and so. Since the band is Lemmy's, you can make your own conclusions.

 

[METALDUDE]

Yeah I thought this was pretty sad...a little late replying, but not late in hearing the news.

R. I. P.

 

[Unfaithfully Metalhead]

Official from the band:

Thin Lizzy one of the founders of HM? And Motorhead certainly weren't.... Only Sabbath should have that honor...