Motorhead's 'Fast Eddie' Clarke dies at 67

[January 12, 2018]    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Guitarist Eddie Clarke, the last surviving member of British metal band Motorhead's line-up during its heyday, has died at the age of 67, the band's official Facebook page said on Thursday.

In a Facebook post, later members of the band said Clarke, known as "Fast Eddie" because of his ferocious style of playing, died in hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia. It did not say where.

Motorhead formed in London in 1975 and released more than 20 studio albums. Original frontman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, and drummer Phil Taylor both died in 2015.

Clarke played on Motorhead's biggest hits, including the albums "Ace of Spades," "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith" and the 1981 British hit single "Motorhead."

He left Motorhead in 1982 at the height of its success to form the band Fastway. Having started off in a blues band, Clarke later returned to blues music and released what would be his final album, "Make My Day, Back to Blues" in 2014.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

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