Former Motörhead Guitarist Würzel Dies at 61

Motörhead dedicated their set at the weekend's Sonisphere festival to former guitarist Würzel, who died of ventricular fibrillation caused by heart disease on 9 July. Addressing the crowd, band leader Lemmy said, "We'd like to dedicate this set and our lives to Würzel."

Born Michael Burston in 1949 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the guitarist joined Motörhead in 1984 alongside second guitarist Phil Campbell after Brian Robertson's short-lived tenure in the plankspanker's slot. According to The Guardian, Würzel wrote to Lemmy after he heard about the vacancy.

He recalled, "I wrote [Lemmy] a letter and sent a tape, and he phoned me up for an audition. He also said, 'We'll probably end up with an unknown guitarist', and there was no one in the country who was more unknown than I was."

In addition to his musical career, Burston served as a corporal in the British Army. It was there that he earned his nickname on account of his scruffy appearance that reminded his fellow soldiers of fictional scarecrow Worzel Gummidge. Prior to joining Motörhead, he'd worked as builder as well as playing guitar in small clubs and pubs.

Speaking of his time before joining the band, he said, "I knew deep down that the only thing I would really be happy doing was playing rock 'n' roll but I did think, 'I'm 30 years old -- am I going to do anything? How am I going to carry on playing these pubs forever?'"

He played on nine studio and live albums with Motörhead before quitting the band in 1995. Despite his departure, he was occasionally invited to perform guest slots with the band.

Watch the Video for Motörhead's 'Ace of Spades'

Follow @Spinner on Twitter | Like Spinner on Facebook