RIP Lemmy: 230,000 people tune in to live YouTube stream of Motorhead frontman's funeral

Some 230,000 people tuned in to the live YouTube stream of Ian 'Lemmy' Kilmister's funeral in Hollywood on Saturday (9 January 2016). The rock 'n' roll legend died on 28 December after a short battle with a highly aggressive cancer.

The funeral at the Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles was attended by family and friends, who all paid tribute to the star's incredible life. Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash said, "Lemmy was somebody I just feel so honoured to have been friends with. He lived his life the way he wanted to... his music and personality will last forever."

Todd Singerman, Motörhead's manager, told the assembled guests, "We all know he would not have stood for anything formal or sombre."

The singer's son, Paul Inder, said that his father started feeling ill in August and was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer days before he died. "Travel well, my dear father. You are back out on the road for a longest tour to the great gig in the sky," he said.

Dave Grohl, former Nirvana drummer and frontman of Foo Fighters, ended the ceremony with a tearful speech in which he called Lemmy "the one true rock 'n' roller" and a man who "set such a great example because he was so kind to everyone" before a final toast. Lemmy's guitar was then plugged in and turned up, letting feedback reverberate through the chapel.

The funeral was a private event for friends and family, and fans were asked not to attend, and instead to view the YouTube stream. Many local fans gathered at the Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip, one of Lemmy's favourite bars, where they placed mementos and signed a giant picture of the Motörhead star.

Lemmy was born in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, in 1945. A petition to name a newly discovered element lemmium after the rocker has been started by fans, and has so far gathered around 130,000 signatures; the new element is, of course, a heavy metal.