Michael Richard Burston (23 October 1949 – 9 July 2011), commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician who played professionally for three decades. He played guitar in British rock band

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

from 1984 to 1995,Michael 'Würzel' Burston obituary , Music
The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-23. playing on six studio albums and two live albums. Würzel died at the age of 61, following heart complications.

Biography

Before joining

in 1984, Würzel had been a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, serving in Germany and Northern Ireland with the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, and had played in the bands Bastard and

Warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

. In the early 1980s, Würzel played in a

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

-based band, originally named Made in England, then The Meek. He joined another relatively unknown guitarist, Phil Campbell, at a Motörhead audition; both were hired. The new four-piece line-up made its debut recording a backing track for '' The Young Ones'' on 14 February 1984. Würzel also played on the

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

-produced album for Warfare entitled ''Metal Anarchy'' in 1985. He acquired the nickname 'Würzel' whilst in the Army, being compared to the character

Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.

owing to his scarecrow-style hair and bumpkin-like manner. Motörhead singer Lemmy encouraged Würzel to add an umlaut to the 'U' in his nickname, for heavy metal effect. Würzel saw a number of changes to the band's line-up, each involving the drummer, until he left in 1995. Although he played on the album ''

Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

'', Würzel left Motörhead before the tour. Instead of replacing him, the band reverted to a three-piece line-up. He later made a few guest appearances with them, at the 2008

Download Festival Download Festival is a rock festival created by Andy Copping, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 2019); Flemington ...

and at the 2009 Guilfest, as well as a few other appearances on the band's 2008 UK tour. Würzel recorded his first solo EP, ''Bess'', in 1987; it was not far removed from the Motörhead sound, but also allowed for slightly different ideas. The EP included the instrumental title track, two rock pieces, "Midnight in London" and "People Say I'm Crazy", and an instrumental

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

-oriented track, "E.S.P.". In 1998, inspired by psychedelically-informed experiences in Belgium, Würzel recorded and released an ambient, improvised

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

album entitled ''Chill Out or Die''.

Death

On 9 July 2011, Tim Butcher, longtime bass technician of Motörhead leader Lemmy, reported that Würzel had died. The cause of death was

ventricular fibrillation Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib or VF) is an abnormal heart rhythm in which the Ventricle (heart), ventricles of the heart Fibrillation, quiver. It is due to disorganized electrical conduction system of the heart, electrical activity. Ventricula ...

triggered by

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of primary diseases of the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. A ...

. Before he died, Würzel was working on new material with his new band, Leader of Down, who had previously announced the release of their debut single for early 2010. The following day, Lemmy dedicated Motörhead's performance at

Sonisphere Festival The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It h ...

in Knebworth to his memory.

Discography

;With Motörhead * '' No Remorse'' (Compilation, 1984) * '' Orgasmatron'' (1986) * ''

Rock 'n' Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

'' (1987) * '' Nö Sleep at All'' (Live album, 1988) * '' The Birthday Party'' (Live album, 1990) * ''

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

'' (1991) * ''

March ör Die ''March ör Die'' is the tenth studio album by British Rock music, rock band Motörhead, released in July 1992. It would be the band's second and final album with WTG Records. The album features guest appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N' Roses ...

'' (1992) * '' Bastards'' (1993) * ''

'' (1995) * '' BBC Live & In-Session'' (Live album, 2005) ;Solo work * ''Bess'' (1987) * ''Chill Out or Die (The Ambient Album)'' (1998) ;Other work and guest appearances *

– ''Metal Anarchy'' (1985) * V.A. – "Where Would You Rather Be Tonight?" (1986) (All proceeds from this album went to Broadreach House, a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts and alcoholics) * Atomgods – ''WOW!'' (1988) * Warhead – ''Warhead'' (1995) * Disgust – ''A World of No Beauty'' (1996) * WVKEAF – "Jump/Maximism" – (1997) * Splodgenessabounds – ''Artful Splodger'' (2001)

VHS and DVD appearances

* Motörhead – '' The Birthday Party'' (1985) * Motörhead – '' 1916 Live...Everything Louder than Everything Else'' (VHS & DVD 1991) * Motörhead – ''Videobiography'' (2007) (Würzel is featured on Disc 2 of Motörhead Videobiography, in a 50-minute interview, his first since leaving the band; filmed in early 2007)''Motörhead Videobiography'' (Double DVD with 48-page book) Edgehill Publishing Ltd., June 2007 *''Motorhead The Ultimate Review'' (Double DVD with different Würzel interview footage to the above on DVD 2), Anvil Media (ANV5096) – July 2013

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Independent''

Motörhead official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Würzel 1949 births 2011 deaths English heavy metal guitarists English rock guitarists Gloucestershire Regiment soldiers Motörhead members Music in Gloucestershire Musicians from Cheltenham Place of death missing British slide guitarists Alumni of Pershore College of Horticulture Military personnel from Gloucestershire 20th-century British Army personnel Deaths from cardiomyopathy