WASP Lawless sorry for Motorhead fight

Turn back time: Blackie Lawless

Blackie Lawless wishes he could go back in time and prevent the fight that led to Motorhead quitting a US tour with WASP in 1997.

And he’s revealed that he and Lemmy Kilmister discovered months after their fall-out that it had been caused by backroom boys telling them different stories about how the proposed double-header bill would be operated.

Despite the promise of equal billing, Motorhead found themselves opening the show each night. After coming offstage to find their belongings thrown out of a dressing room shared with WASP, Lemmy’s band walked out.

At the time Lawless’ outfit accused Motorhead of being “amateurish” and insisted they hadn’t been co-headliners, but had been allowed to say they were as a mark of respect for their musical achievements. They insisted the three-piece hadn’t quit, but had instead been fired, and added that Lemmy had “run away” from the threat of physical confrontation, describing him as “down and beaten.”

Now Lawless says in an online diary post: “There was a lot of tension between the two of us, and at one point he and I got into a very heated argument.

“I had known Lemmy for a long time. The problems he and I were having didn’t make sense. We used to hang out together in clubs, so the goings-on that caused the problems were strange to say the least.

“A few months after the tour was over I ran into him. We talked for a while and discussed what the hell had happened.

“Somebody booking the tour had told me one thing, and Lemmy said another guy told him completely the opposite, concerning how the tour would be run. It made a tour that should have been a lot of fun be filled with totally unnecessary attention.

“These people who booked the tour used both of us to get what they wanted. I was really angry at those people. I know I got used.”

Lawless says it’s all behind them now but adds: “I wish I could go back and undo everything that happened during that tour.”

The pair last met while WASP and Motorhead played a festival in Romania. Lawless remembers: “It was unbelievable hot that day. I told him, ‘Lemmy, you’ve got to make sure before you go on stage that you’re completely hydrated, or you’ll pass out.’

“He holds up a glass full of Jack Daniel’s and coke and says, ‘I intend to stay completely hydrated – there are many, many ice cubes in this glass.’ That’s the Lemmy I know and love.”