Former Motorhead guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke has died at the age of 67.
The musician passed away following a battle with pneumonia on Wednesday (10 January).
His former bandmates confirmed the news in a statement on their Facebook page.
They wrote: “We are devastated to pass on the news we only just heard ourselves earlier tonight – Edward Allan Clarke, or as we all know and love him Fast Eddie Clarke – passed away peacefully yesterday.
“Ted Carroll, who formed Chiswick Records, made the sad announcement via his Facebook page, having heard from Doug Smith that Fast Eddie passed peacefully in hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia.
“Fast Eddie... keep roaring, rockin’ and rollin’ up there as goddamit man, your Motörfamily would expect nothing less!
“RIP Fast Eddie Clarke – 5th October 1950 - 10th January 2018.”
Eddie joined Motorhead in 1976, after he was introduced to founder and frontman Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister by drummer Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor.
He left the group during a US tour, following the release of fifth album ‘Iron Fist’ in 1982, reportedly unhappy with how that album turned out.
Eddie later formed Fastway with former UFO bassist Pete Way the following year, and they went on to release six albums together - the most recent being 2011 comeback record, ‘Eat Dog Eat’.