Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister, singer for iconic metallers Motörhead, has broken German law by wearing a Nazi cap in a newspaper photo-shoot. The photograph was taken ahead of the band’s appearance at the Wacken Rocks Seaside concert in Germany a fortnight ago.
German prosecutors have “launched an investigation” against Kilmister, on the grounds that Nazi paraphernalia is largely illegal within the country. In reporting the Motörhead man’s rather dunderheaded faux pas, The Guardian recalls his earlier interview with New York Waste. “I don’t only collect Nazi stuff, I collect objects from all the Axis countries,” he told the periodical. “Also from countries who aren’t even mentioned anymore as former parts of the Axis. Like Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Hungary. From the beginning of time, the bad guys always had the best uniforms. Napoleon, the Confederates, the Nazis. They all had killer uniforms. I mean, the SS uniform is fucking brilliant! They were the rock stars of that time. What you’re gonna do? They just look good.
“It’s not a nationalistic kind of thing. Don’t tell me I’m a Nazi ‘cause I have uniforms. In 1967 I had my first black girlfriend and a lot more ever since then. I just don’t understand racism, I never thought it was an option.”
