Welsh guitarist Phil Campbell, best known for his three decades with Motörhead and later with Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons, has died after a lifetime shaping heavy rock guitar.
by Paul Cashmere
Phil Campbell, the Welsh guitarist whose thunderous riffs powered much of the later catalogue of Motörhead, has died aged 64. For more than three decades Campbell stood alongside founder and frontman Lemmy Kilmister, helping define the band’s sound from the mid-1980s until the group ended following Lemmy’s death in 2015.
Campbell’s family has issued the following statement:
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Philip Anthony Campbell, who passed away peacefully last night following a long and courageous battle in intensive care after a complex major operation.
Phil was a devoted husband, a wonderful father, and a proud and loving grandfather, known affectionately as “Bampi.” He was deeply loved by all who knew him and will be missed immensely. His legacy, music and the memories he created with so many will live on forever.
We kindly ask that our family’s privacy is respected during this incredibly difficult time.
Listen to the Noise11 interview with Phil Campbell from October 2025:
Born Philip Anthony Campbell on 7 May 1961 in Pontypridd, South Wales, Campbell developed an obsession with the guitar early. Inspired by players such as Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi and Jimmy Page, he began playing at the age of ten. Music quickly became more than a hobby. By 13 he was already performing semi-professionally with a cabaret outfit called Contrast before moving into the pub-rock circuit around South Wales with the band Roktopus.
Campbell’s path toward heavy metal came into sharper focus at the end of the 1970s when he formed Persian Risk. The band released singles including “Calling For You” and “Ridin’ High”, early recordings that showcased Campbell’s aggressive tone and melodic instincts. The group built a following within the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene, but Campbell’s life would change dramatically in 1984.
Motörhead were searching for a new guitarist after the departure of Brian Robertson. Campbell sent in a Persian Risk single as an audition. He later recalled that he had almost forgotten about the submission when a message arrived asking him to learn 18 Motörhead songs within days. Campbell managed about ten before walking into the rehearsal room. When Lemmy turned on his bass amplifier, Campbell remembered it as the loudest sound he had ever heard.
The audition produced an unexpected result. Motörhead had planned to hire just one guitarist but eventually decided to bring in both Campbell and Michael “Würzel” Burston. The twin-guitar lineup debuted quickly. Within a week Campbell found himself appearing with the band on the cult British comedy series The Young Ones, performing in the episode “Bambi”. It was a surreal introduction to life inside one of rock’s loudest bands.
Campbell remained with Motörhead for the rest of its existence. His tenure stretched across 16 studio albums, beginning with Orgasmatron in 1986 and concluding with Bad Magic in 2015. Over those decades he became one of the key architects of the band’s sound, helping drive records including Rock ‘n’ Roll, 1916, Sacrifice, Inferno, Motörizer and Aftershock.
Reflecting on that body of work in a recent Noise11 interview, Campbell said he never imagined the career he would build with the band.
“It’s a lot, 16 studio albums,” he said. “It got tougher as the years went by because we wanted to keep it original. As we were just a three-piece, a lot of it was down to me to get the songs up and running, then everyone would contribute. Lem had a couple of his own rock and roll songs every album. But really, we just loved music. It was about getting on with the job. I never expected to achieve that much when I was young.”
Among those records, Campbell had a particular affection for the 1993 album Bastards.
Produced by Howard Benson, the record captured the band with a huge studio sound that Campbell believed did not receive the attention it deserved at the time.
“Sonically it’s massive,” he said. “It just sounds like being in the room with the band.”
When Lemmy died on 28 December 2015, Motörhead effectively ended overnight.
Campbell later spoke openly about how difficult it was to watch his bandmate’s health decline during the final tour, describing a period where the singer was “ageing a little bit more” and not quite himself. The loss closed one of the longest partnerships in heavy rock.
Music remained central to Campbell’s life after Motörhead. Even before the band’s final chapter he had begun playing with his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla in a loose project that eventually became Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons. The group started casually at a birthday party jam session before evolving into a fully fledged touring band.
After Lemmy’s death Campbell stepped away from music briefly, but his sons encouraged him to keep playing. “Come on dad, let’s do some more shows,” they told him, a moment that helped launch the new band.
Phil Campbell And The Bastard Sons went on to release several albums including The Age Of Absurdity in 2018, We’re The Bastards in 2020 and Kings Of The Asylum in 2023. The band also issued the live record Live In The North, recorded in Sunderland in 2021.
Campbell described the project as a family affair that combined heavy touring with a far calmer lifestyle than the classic Motörhead years.
“I’m in bed early these days,” he joked in the Noise11 interview. “It’s not rock and roll debauchery.”
Campbell also recorded a solo album, Old Lions Still Roar, in 2019. The record featured guest appearances from rock and metal figures including Alice Cooper, Rob Halford, Dee Snider and Benji Webbe, a reflection of the respect Campbell had earned across the genre.
Across more than forty years in music, Phil Campbell became one of the most recognisable guitarists in heavy rock. From the moment he stepped into Motörhead in 1984 until his final tours with his sons, his playing remained rooted in the loud, direct spirit that defined the band he served for most of his life.
His legacy lives on through the records he helped create and the unmistakable guitar work that powered Motörhead’s later decades.
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