Motörhead's Mikkey Dee Recalls His Last Conversation With Lemmy Kilmister

Longtime Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee looked back on his final conversation with Lemmy Kilmister in a new interview.

Dee, who's been the drummer for Scorpions since 2016, told Waste Some Time with Jason Green that he regrets not having a more substantive chat with the rock icon before heading home to Sweden for a holiday break in December of 2015, between tours.

Motörhead had just played a 40th anniversary show in Berlin, Germany. The three band members, Lemmy, Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell, had been mulling which songs from their Bad Magic album to do in the set on the next leg of the tour.

The final chat between the bassist and drummer was about the setlist on the next run of dates.

Dee recalled: "I went down to Lemmy's dressing room, and I said, 'Alright, go back to L.A. and figure out, maybe, another two songs from Bad Magic that you think we should do...' And he said, 'Yeah, alright, I'll check that out.' And I said, 'Let's hook up after Christmas.' Because it was the 11th of December at that time, and I figured we'd talk between Christmas and New Year's Eve... And he said, 'Yeah, I'll go back and work on that.' ... So we did a little finger-hook, as we always did, and that was the last time I saw him, actually. Very sad."

It was well known around Motörhead that Lemmy was struggling with his health, but Dee said he had no inkling that he would never see his bandmate again. Lemmy had made changes to his lifestyle in recent years; it proved to be too little too late.

Lemmy was diagnosed with cancer not long after returning home to California that month. He passed away at age 70 on December 28, 2015, just 17 days after his final show with Motörhead.

"[M]y personal belief is that it was maybe a little too late," Dee said of Lemmy's more health-conscious approach. "He should have maybe changed a little earlier. But knowing Lemmy, he was not for that. ... He never compromised with his music, he never compromised with friendship, he never compromised with what way he was gonna go for anyone else ... which is why Motörhead was Motörhead — and still is Motörhead."

Watch the full conversation via the player below.

Dee and Campbell hope to organize an all-star concert tribute to Lemmy once coronavirus-related restriction are eased in Europe and the U.S.