According to a posting on the Facebook page of Tim Butcher, MOTГ–RHEAD leader Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister's longtime bass tech and "right-hand man," former MOTГ–RHEAD guitarist Michael "WГјrzel" Burston died earlier yesterday (Saturday, July 9). He was 61 years old.

Before joining MOTГ–RHEAD in 1984, Burston had been a corporal in the Army, serving in Germany and Ireland with the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, and had played in the bands BASTARD and WARFARE. Joining another relatively unknown guitarist, Phil Campbell, they played together at a MOTГ–RHEAD audition, and both were taken on.

Burston acquired the nickname WГјrzel while in the Army, being compared to the character Worzel Gummidge due to his scarecrow-style hair and bumpkin-like manner. Lemmy reportedly demanded that WГјrzel add an umlaut to the "U" in his name, for "heavy metal effect."

WГјrzel can be heard on the following MOTГ–RHEAD albums:

* No Remorse (1984)
* Orgasmatron (1986)
* Rock 'n' Roll (1987)
* Nö Sleep at All (1988)
* The Birthday Party (1990)
* 1916 (1991)
* March Г¶r Die (1992)
* Bastards (1993)
* Sacrifice (1995)

WГјrzel left MOTГ–RHEAD in 1995.

For the past couple of years, Burston has played with a new band called LEADER OF DOWN, which last month headlined the main stage at the U.K. fundraising music festival "Never Mind The Bullocks" in aid of Midlands Air Ambulance.