The seventh annual 'Lemmy Forever' ceremony will take place on June 12, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. at Donington Park in Castle Donington, England, as part of the Download Festival. A miniature urn containing the ashes of MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister will once again travel the world to be with the fans and the music he loved.
This year's ceremony carries an added weight of grief and tribute. Phil Campbell, the guitarist who had served as MOTÖRHEAD's riff master from 1984 until Lemmy's death in December 2015 and who had personally presided over multiple previous 'Lemmy Forever' ceremonies, passed away in March 2026 after a long illness. Another close friend of Lemmy's will lead the proceedings in Phil's place, continuing a ritual that has become one of heavy metal's most moving annual acts of remembrance.
The tradition began with a simple but profound idea from MOTÖRHEAD manager Todd Singerman: "Not everyone can make the pilgrimage to visit Lemmy in Hollywood, so we are bringing Lem back to his fans." Lemmy's permanent resting place is at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, but his spirit is clearly too large to stay in one place.
Over the years, the 'Lemmy Forever' ceremonies have taken place at Hellfest in France, Wacken Open Air in Germany, the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood — the bar where Lemmy spent countless hours at his corner table — Stringfellows in London, Bloodstock Open Air in England, and Lemmy's hometown of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. Each location was chosen because it was a place Lemmy loved or that loved him back.
At Download, the setting could not be more appropriate. Donington Park has a deep connection to MOTÖRHEAD and to the culture Lemmy helped create — the band performed at the original Monsters of Rock festival in the 1980s, and Download itself is the spiritual successor to that event, staged on the same hallowed ground.
Following the Download ceremony, the urn will continue its journey to O2 Apollo Manchester on June 16 at noon for an additional ceremony.
Lemmy died on December 28, 2015, four days after his 70th birthday and just two days after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He left behind a catalog that still sounds like nothing else in the world, and a community that refuses to let him be forgotten.