by Mikkey Dee recently shared insights about his hesitation to join Motörhead earlier in his career. He revealed his concerns about being ready for the legendary band in an interview with Get On The Bus.
The drummer explained how Lemmy Kilmister approached him multiple times over the years. He initially declined the offers due to feeling unprepared for the band’s intensity.
“Lemmy asked me over the years, three times I think from ’86 to when I actually joined the band,” Dee said. “I respectfully turned him down three times because I didn’t feel I earned my stripes for a band like Motorhead. I wasn’t ready for these guys.”
Dee elaborated on his concerns about joining the band too early in his career.
“We toured with them in ’86 with King Diamond and we became such great friends and but I also saw what that was all about and I wasn’t ready for that band,” he continued. “They would have eaten me for breakfast. So I think the right decision was to wait, you know, and become a better drummer to grow, right? Because I have to be able to do that. I have to be involved. I had to and I couldn’t do that at that point.”
The drummer also shared a humorous exchange with Lemmy about his living situation.
“Lemmy had cool stuff, but there was so much you could barely walk in there. And I said, ‘Lem, why don’t you get her like a three, four bedroom house, you know, instead?’” Dee recalled. “And he go, ‘What’s the point, Mikkey? You can only be in one room at a time anyway.’ How do you beat this these these oneliners? You know, he was fantastic there.”
Dee’s patience ultimately paid off when he finally joined the band in 1992. This marked the beginning of a legendary partnership that would span over two decades.
Last.fm documented that Dee eventually accepted Lemmy’s persistent invitations and replaced the legendary drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor in 1992. The transition required careful consideration, as Dee noted he couldn’t simply fill Taylor’s shoes but had to introduce his own style to the band. “Phil Taylor was great when he was good… so I could never have filled that space… I had to introduce Mikkey Dee into Motörhead,” he explained.
Before joining Motörhead, Metal Archives reported that Dee had already established himself as a formidable drummer through his work with King Diamond. He contributed to landmark albums like “Abigail” (1987) and “Fatal Portrait” (1986). This experience with the Danish heavy metal band provided him with the technical skills and stage presence that would later prove invaluable during his Motörhead years.
Throughout his tenure with Motörhead, Dee witnessed firsthand the band’s unique cultural impact on the music world. Drummerworld noted that he described Motörhead as “the only band in the world, ever, where punks, metalheads, and hard rockers didn’t fight.” This observation highlighted the rare respect and broad appeal the band commanded across different musical communities, transcending typical genre boundaries.
“Motörhead was the only band in the world, ever, where punks, metalheads, and hard rockers didn’t fight,” Dee reflected, emphasizing the unifying power of the band’s music.
After Motörhead’s end following Lemmy’s death in 2015, Kiddle confirmed that Dee continued his musical journey by joining the Scorpions in 2016. He maintained his status as a heavyweight figure in rock drumming and proved that his decision to wait until he was ready for such legendary bands was indeed the right choice.
