James Hetfield Makes Tattoo with Ashes of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister

Metallica’s James Hetfield is honoring his late friend Lemmy Kilmister with some new ink — and his ashes. 

On Wednesday, April 17, Hetfield, 60, unveiled his unique tribute to the Motörhead frontman as he revealed his “Ace of Spades”-inspired tattoo featuring a “pinch” of the musician’s ashes. 

“With the steady hand of friend and tattoo artist @coreymillertattoo, this tattoo,” wrote Hetfield on Metallica’s Instagram account alongside the new inking on his middle finger. “A salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister. Without him, there would be NO Metallica.”

“Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me,” Hetfield continued. “So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world. #lemmy #aceofspades #borntolose #livetowin.”

In the photo, Hetfield raised his middle finger and pulled a face while holding what appeared to be a clear trinket-style box containing Kilmister’s ashes in his other hand. 

“So honoured to do that tattoo.. 🔥♠️🔥♠️🔥,” wrote tattoo artist Corey Miller in the comments section.

The ink features an ace of spaces outlined by a pattern after Motörhead’s famous 1980 song, “Ace of Spades.”

Kilmister, who founded the band in 1975, died in December 2015 at age 70. In a Facebook post at the time, Motörhead said the lead singer — real name Ian Fraser Kilmister — died just days after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

In January 2016, Kilmister’s cause of death was confirmed as prostate cancer and congestive heart failure.

That same month, rock stars, family and friends gathered in Los Angeles for a memorial service to remember the rock singer. 

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The service, which took place at Hollywood’s Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery, saw the band and friends including Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and wrestler Triple H pay tribute to Kilmister with speeches honoring his life and career.

In 2016, Hetfield told Kerrang! that Kilmister’s death left him “distraught.”

“My vision of him was as a statue of a man that was immortal. When he passed it scared me, like, ‘Where’s our captain now?’ He’s been a godfather to us. There’s no doubt that without him there wouldn’t be a Metallica. When he was around, it just felt like things were going to be okay.”