Phil Campbell, Motörhead guitarist for over three decades, has died at the age of 64.
The news was shared by his family on social media, who said he passed away peacefully overnight following “a long and courageous battle in intensive care after a complex major operation”.
“Phil was a devoted husband, a wonderful father, and a proud and loving grandfather, known affectionately as ‘Bampi’” the statement reads. “He was deeply loved by all who knew him and will be missed immensely. His legacy, music and the memories he created with so many will live on forever.”
Campbell was born in Pontypridd, Wales, and began playing guitar at 10 years old. By the age of 13 he was performing regularly with pub and cabaret bands around South Wales. He started his first heavy metal originals band, Persian Risk, in 1979.
His big break came in 1984 when Motörhead held auditions for a new guitarist, following the departure of ex-Thin Lizzy guitar player Brian Robertson. Both Campbell and fellow auditionee Michael “Würzel” Burston were hired to fill the role. It was a strange twist of fate for Campbell, who at 12 years old, had asked Lemmy for his autograph after a Hawkwind show.
While Motörhead were famed for their proto-thrash sound, which was a major influence on Metallica and an entire generation of metal, Campbell’s playing was firmly rooted in blues rock.
“I’ve never thought of myself as a technical player – I’ve probably got the slowest right hand in the business,” he once told Total Guitar. “My comfort zone is big volume and lots of blues.”
The formula clearly worked: he was Motörhead’s guitarist for 31 years, across 16 albums – their sole guitar player from 1995, following Burston’s departure – until Lemmy’s death in 2015. He attributed the band’s long lifespan to a sense of ‘us-against-the-world’ camaraderie.
“We believed in each other. We wrote the music for ourselves, we didn’t write for fans or record companies. It was all music that got us off – it floated our boat and that’s what made it all fun.
“Regardless of all the other things going on, we could pick up our instruments, crank it up and be away in another world. None of us were qualified to do anything else, anyway, so it definitely helped!”
The year after Motörhead ended, Campbell started his own project, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, featuring his three sons on guitar, bass and drums, with former Attack! Attack! singer Neil Starr on vocals.
The band released four albums and performed alongside Guns N’ Roses, Saxon and – in a nod to Lemmy’s former band – Hawkwind. The group would also pay further tribute with a cover of the group’s Silver Machine.
In February, Phil Campbell was forced to cancel a series of shows in Australia and Europe on medical grounds. At the time of his death, he was working on new material with Fury singer Julian Jenkins.
Campbell is survived by his wife Gaynor and their three sons.
