Former Motörhead guitarist dead at 61

Former Motörhead guitarist Michael Burston, aka Würzel, died Saturday after suffering from heart disease. He was 61.

Burston spent 11 years with Motörhead, his friendly nature often providing a counterpoint to the very serious Lemmy. He played on nine Motörhead studio albums and made the occasional guest appearance with the band after his departure.

He took to using the name Würzel when his bandmates began comparing him to TV children’s show character Worzel Gummidge and tweaked the spelling after Lemmy suggested that he add an umlaut to the moniker, à la the ö in Motörhead.

Burston’s death was announced in a Facebook posting made by Lemmy’s bass tech, Tim Butcher.