LOS ANGELES — In a controversial but, according to organizers, “inevitable” decision, the International Bassist Council (IBC) confirmed Tuesday that a second likeness of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister will been added to the Mount Rushmore of Bassists, joining the first Lemmy and Primus’ bassist/frontman Les Claypool, sources within the IBC confirmed.
“Look, we tried to do this the right way. We put Lemmy up first, obviously, no debate,” said IBC spokesperson Harold Vance, standing in front of a statue of the Motörhead bassist that stands in the IBC offices. “Then we added Claypool. But after that, we really struggled on who should be added next. We had council meetings and held votes but we just couldn’t come up with another name worthy of the honor. At a certain point, we realized the only fair thing to do was to add Lemmy again. I’m not going to lie, a lot of this has to do with getting non-bass fans interested in the instrument so you have to choose names people are familiar with. We already had to add Flea, despite his problematic ties to The Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
The decision has drawn backlash from members of the bass community, many of whom feel certain bassists had been overlooked.
“It’s ridiculous! There are so many incredible bass players out there. Innovators. Technicians,” said local bassist Trent Alvarez, who, sadly, has been playing the instrument for 18 years. “I mean, what about Geezer Butler? Or John Paul Jones? Or, or, or fuckin’, Carol Kaye?! Geddy Lee crushed it in Rush and he didn’t need a 40 piece kit to do it. Bassists are the artery of the band, without us nothing flows. Maybe this bass organization would like to have a word with the legend Bootsy Collins! This is all politics man.”
Experts say the situation reflects a deeper, long-standing issue within music history.
“Bassists have always been at the mercy of narrative control. The most famous ones like Paul McCartney and Sting actively try to make you forget they played bass,” explained Dr. Naomi Stevens, Professor of Bass History at UC Berkeley. “Guitarists dominate the discourse, and over time they’ve rewritten history to minimize the role of bass entirely. What you’re seeing here isn’t favoritism, it is history being written by the winner.”
At press time, the IBC confirmed that discussions are underway to finalize the fourth face, with early proposals including “Young Lemmy,” Spinal Taps’ Derek Smalls and Paul Rudd in that scene in “I Love You, Man.”
