Lemmy was once asked what he thought about God and religion, and he didn’t hold back

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

Credit: Rob Monk/Classic Rock Magazine

Lemmy was many things: musician, raconteur, lifelong rock’n’roller. But the late, great Motörhead frontman was a philosopher on the side too, as anyone who has read one of his interviews can vouch.

The brand new issue of Classic Rock marks the 50th anniversary of Motörhead’s formation by speaking to many of the band’s friends, associates and drinking partners.

We also unearth a previously unpublished interview with Lemmy himself, in which the great man expounds on everything from misogyny to where in the world to buy the best steak.

As part of the conversation, he also gets philosophical about God and religion. But while Lemmy may have been the son of a vicar (albeit one who walked out on his family when his son was just three months old), he doesn’t hold back with his views on the subject.

“I dislike religion quite intensely, actually,” he says in the interview. “It’s been the cause of all the grief in the world ever since they discovered the first stone to worship.

“It didn’t start with Jesus, it started before him. Every religion… I mean, Nazism and Communism are religions too, make no mistake, with Hitler and Stalin as God, right? It’s the same thing. Even the British Empire with Victoria as God, you know?

“All the grief and misery in the world has been caused by religion in one way or the other.

He continues: “If there is a God, he’s not really paying attention. He should retire and hand over to a younger man. Maybe he’s just gone senile like George III. He’s just making a real bollocks of it.

“If there is a God, how can it be like this? How can it be polluted and dreadful, and landmines, and people starving when there’s enough food to feed them all? And anyway, a virgin impregnated by a ghost? If Joseph went for that, he deserved to be in a stable.

Ironically, Lemmy himself has actually been ordained as a minister, and even officiated at a fan’s wedding.

“Yeah, it’s funny, isn’t it?” he says in the interview. “This guy wanted me to marry him and his girlfriend at [famed LA bar and regular Lemmy hangout] the Rainbow. He’s ex-Special Forces so that might be something to do with it.

“He got me ordained on the internet, into this Church of Universal Peace or something, so I’m the Reverend Lemmy Kilmister. So I am able to perform marriages. But I’m not going to.”

Read the full interview with Lemmy and the rest of our Motörhead 50th anniversary celebrations in the brand new issue of Classic Rock, on sale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door.

Credit: Future