Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister kept his personal life quite unknown.
Lemmy never married, but he had two sons. Lemmy met a girl named Cathy while on vacation at the age of 17 and followed her to Stockport. She then gave birth to his son, Sean. Sean was then placed for adoption. Lemmy talked about having a son in the 2010 documentary ‘Lemmy.’
Lemmy decided to keep his true identity secret from Sean. He thought it would be more good for him not to know. Lemmy said meeting his son out of curiosity may potentially affect his life. He added that he didn’t miss him since they never met.
Lemmy said the following about Sean in 2005:
“He’s a computer programmer. His mother went and found him. She’s a social worker and wears these diaphanous paisley smocks. She said he put his head in his hands when she told him she was his mother, so she hadn’t the heart to tell him who his father was. I figure if I go and meet him for the sake of my curiosity, it might ruin his life. It’s better for everyone if I don’t. I never met him, so I don’t miss him.”
His Second Son Wasn’t That Unlucky
Lemmy’s other son Paul Inder was born after his relationship with a woman named Tracy. She was from Manchester, and the two met when Lemmy was with the Rockin’ Vickers. Lemmy only met Paul six years later. Paul grew up to be a guitarist and joined his father on stage several times.
Paul remained by Lemmy’s side until his passing and saw his final days. In an interview at the 2016 Grammy Awards, Inder recalled Lemmy’s will to perform despite health issues:
“He had his up days, and he had his down days. He would battle to go on stage sometimes, but he would always get it together — even if he was laid out on his back. In one show, I heard from Steve Luna, his assistant, that he was actually laid out on his back backstage. Then he heard the crowd chanting, ‘Lemmy, Lemmy,’ and he got up, and he went out, and he did it.
So he was determined all the way to the end. That’s all he lived for. He said, Well, there’s nothing else I can do. I’m not gonna retire.’ ‘Retire’ didn’t exist in his vocabulary. So, I think he was… For him, it was all the way to the end, and he wanted to go with his boots on, and he kind of did.”
Lemmy Kilmister resided in Los Angeles from 1990 until his death in 2015. He often kept his personal life private from the public eye. He chose not to reveal his true identity to his secret son Sean, but he somewhat had a father-son relationship with Paul Inder.
