There’s an apocryphal story which says, upon the demise of Motörhead because of the sad loss of Lemmy, Phil Campbell decided to form a new band with members of his family and, after telling his wife what he proposed to call the new band, she refused to speak to him for several days. True or not, it’s in keeping with Phil Campbell’s well known sense of humour. The name of the band was Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons.
The tragic passing of Phil Campbell, aged only 64, came about following a long and courageous battle in intensive care following a complex major operation. Earlier in 2026, tours of Australia and Europe had to be postponed as Phil was unwell. It’s now known he was fighting against bladder cancer.
Motörhead paid tribute, saying.. “Phil always led with his gift of guitar, and he carried a great sense of humour but, most of all, Phil led with his heart. Phil loved life and lived it with great joy. The world has lost an enormous beam of light.” Bandmate, drummer Mikkey Dee, claimed Phil was the best guitarist he ever worked with, while German heavy metal singer, Doro Pesch, said she was lost for words, and what an honour it was to call him a friend.
Phil’s passing onwards to the great gig in the sky robs the rock world of a mighty musician who played guitar in a mighty band. They were Motörhead, and they played rock ‘n’ roll, probably better than most other bands, simply because they understood rock ‘n’ roll, and they knew how to play it to maximum effect. When Phil joined, playing alongside Würzel, the band were a four piece but, on Würzel leaving, Motörhead reverted back to being a power trio and went on to greater fame and notoriety. Whilst several of the band’s classics, like Bomber, Overkill and Ace of Spades, had been written before he joined the band in 1985, Phil wrote many of their later classic riffs. He kept the band’s legacy alive with his own band, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, playing classic Motörhead songs with all the verve and fire of the original. Their performance at Maid of Stone, 2023, was one of the highlights of a great weekend’s music.
Like Tony Iommi, Phil Campbell wasn’t a lead guitarist who played long meandering flashy solos. His and Tony’s great skill lay in the creation and laying down of timeless riffs which enabled their respective bands to go on to achieve major success, with each player giving their band an identifiable trademark sound, which is the hallmark of a truly effective player.
The ‘three Amigos’.. Lemmy, Phil Taylor and ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke.. are all no longer with us, Würzel has also left us and, with Phil Campbell now no longer a resident of this parish, pretty much every major player associated with Motörhead is now making music in another dimension. So there’s now a mighty band making music up there in Heaven and, whilst their passing is sad, I’m just happy they were once here and’ve left behind some great music for us to enjoy. You all may be gone but you’re not forgotten, and you won’t be so long as rock music is played.
