Motorhead's Michael 'Wurzel' Burston (11 We Lost In 11)

12/23/2011
. On July 11th we had the following report about the death of Motorhead's Michael 'Wurzel' Burston. Here it is again as part of our 11 We Lost In 11 special: (Rock News Desk) Former Motorhead guitarist Wurzel has died of heart failure at the age of 61. Wurzel, real name Michael Burston, joined Lemmy's outfit in 1984 and appeared on nine albums before leaving in 1995.

He got his nickname while serving in the British Army as a corporal, when colleagues compared his appearance and character to kids' TV scarecrow Worzel Gummidge. He was already 35 years old and working as a builder when he sent a demo tape to Lemmy following the departure of Brian "Robbo" Robertson from the band. That led to an audition and the end of his pub-rock hobby.

When he arrived with fellow recruit Phil Campbell he extended Motorhead's lineup to four members. Their first public appearance together was on the cult alternative sitcom The Young Ones. His debut Motorhead album was 1984′s No Remorse for which he was lead co-writer for the single Killed By Death; and he contributed to Orgasmatron, Rock'n'Roll, No Sleep At All, The Birthday Party, 1916, March or Die, Bastards then finally Sacrifice in 1995. more on this story

We are wrapping up the year by looking back at the top 11 stories of 2011 for various topics. See today's full Top 11 of 11 stories here

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