Motörhead guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke died Wednesday at 67.
He was the last surviving founding member of the legendary metal outfit, best known for their 1980 hit Ace of Spades.
“We are devastated to pass on the news we only just heard ourselves earlier tonight … Edward Allan Clarke – or as we all know and love him Fast Eddie Clarke – passed away peacefully yesterday,” the official Motörhead Facebook page announced early Thursday. “Ted Carroll (who formed Chiswick Records) made the sad announcement via his FB page, having heard from Doug Smith that Fast Eddie passed peacefully in hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia.”
Former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee, now a member of the Scorpions, said in a statement on Motörhead’s page, “Oh my f—king God, this is terrible news, the last of the three amigos. I saw Eddie not too long ago and he was in great shape, so this is a complete shock. Me and Eddie always hit it off great. I was looking forward to seeing him in the UK this summer when we around with the Scorps.”
Dee added of fellow founding Motörhead members Ian “Lemmy” Kilmeister, who died of cancer in December 2015, and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor who died that November, “Now Lem and Philthy can jam with Eddie again, and if you listen carefully I’m sure you’ll hear them, so watch out! Fast Eddie … keep roaring, rockin’ and rollin’ up there as goddammit man, your Motörfamily would expect nothing less!”
In addition to his work with Motörhead, Clarke formed the band, Fastway, with UFO bassist, Pete Way, in the 80’s. The band’s debut, self titled, album, spawned the hit, Say What You Will.
additional source: Jessica Sager of Page Six
17 Responses
Pete Way never actually recorded with Fastway- he left the band before they recorded the 1st album.
Correct. Was referring to song writing, even though on the credits on the first LP it merely states ‘composed by Fastway’.