James Hetfield and Lemmy Kilmister have fused as one — kind of. Reason being, the Metallica frontman just got a new tribute tattoo to the late Motörhead leader, and it's been legitimately infused with the latter's cremation ashes.
Hetfield revealed the tattoo in an Instagram post late last night (April 16th), and it's a multi-layered nod to Motörhead: an Ace of Spades sitting inside of an iron cross, emblazoned on top of the Metallica frontman's middle finger.
Hetfield called the ink piece "a salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister. Without him, there would be NO Metallica." He also noted that that tattoo was "mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me." Kilmister passed away in 2015.
As for the placement of the tattoo, it's so Kilimister can still "fly the bird at the world."
Metallica's love of Lemmy and Motörhead has been on display for decades. The thrashers cut a series of Overkill-era covers back in the Nineties, while their original tune "Murder One," off 2016's Hardwired…to Self-Destruct is a nod to the name of Kilmister's favorite amp.
That fandom was clearly mutual, with Motörhead's cover of Kill 'Em All classic "Whiplash" having nabbed the U.K. group a Grammy in 2004 for Best Metal Performance. Lemmy and Co. also gave "Enter Sandman" a go in 1998.
