Motorhead Issue Statement on Late Guitarist Michael "Würzel" Burston
Motörhead have issued a statement on their late guitarist, Michael "Würzel" Burston, who passed away this past Saturday at the age of 61.
"We are greatly saddened to confirm that our long-time friend and comrade Würzel died Saturday at his home. Würz was pouring a Guinness and cracking a joke when he succumbed to a heart attack; at least we know he went with a smile. It is a cliche to say that words cannot describe how we feel, and in this case, other than ones such as 'shit' and 'awful' and 'very very sad' it is true, they really can't. We all shared many many great times together, and what he did for Motörhead is quite simply indelible. As our good friend Steve 'Krusher' Joule said, 'RIP dear Würzel, a rocker and a gentleman.'"
Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister added: “Wurzel was my friend and my brother, and he's never going to laugh with me again or bitch me out or do … anything. And that truly and cosmically SUCKS. RIP Wurz Godspeed. Good Man.”
Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee recently spoke to Sweden's Expressen newspaper about Würzel's passing, stating: "He wrote damn good Motörhead riffs. I remember that I missed that when he was not there. I missed the simple classic Motörhead riffs. They were never written after that. They left with him."
"He was wonderful, he was really funny," he continued." There was a lot of rock and roll in the old man."
Burston played with Motörhead from 1984 until 1995, and had since made several live appearances with the band.