Metallica frontman James Hetfield’s middle finger will forever be home to one of the most badass tributes of all time.
It’s a tattoo of an iron cross with a spade in the middle of it, but the ink is made partly from the ashes of the late metal legend Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead (who has a spade tatted on his arm). Hetfield showed it off by posting a photo of him pulling the bird on Instagram.
“A salute to my friend and inspiration Mr. Lemmy Kilmister,” the caption reads. “Without him, there would be NO Metallica.”
“Black ink mixed with a pinch of his cremation ashes that were so graciously given to me. So now, he is still able to fly the bird at the world.”
Commenters all agree that it’s a perfectly legendary way to commemorate the icon.
“Bro that’s fucking metal AF!” wrote one person.
“Absolutely the most badass tribute possible,” said another.
“This is the most bonkers shit (compliment) I have ever read in my life,” a third added.
After Lemmy passed in December 2015, Hetfield told Kerrang that he saw the man as a guiding light for himself and Metallica.
“I was pretty distraught when he passed,” he said. “My vision of him was as a statue of a man that was immortal. When he passed it scared me, like, ‘where’s our captain now?’.”
“He’s been a godfather to us. There’s no doubt that without him there wouldn’t be a Metallica. When he was around, it just felt like things were going to be okay.”
Hetfield’s middle finger isn’t the only place Lemmy’s ashes now live. They were also placed in bullets sent to his loved ones, spread on the fields of festivals he loved playing at, and even enshrined in a massive statue of him put up at Hellfest.
Old mate lives on in the most epic ways possible.
