Coroner Dr. Richard Brittain recorded the cause of Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell’s death as multi-organ failure, brought on by complications from operations he needed, at an inquest that closed at St Pancras Coroner’s Court on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026.
Campbell died in the hospital on March 13 at 64. Brittain determined that the surgery Campbell underwent had been necessary, and that the complications that followed were within the known risks of those procedures.
“My view is that there is nothing here to suggest his death could have been prevented,” Brittain said.
What the Inquest Heard
The court was told that Campbell had two liver transplants and bowel surgery at the Royal Free Hospital in London earlier in 2026. The second transplant was a success, but further complications followed.
After the bowel surgery, Campbell was moved to intensive care and his condition deteriorated rapidly. The inquest also heard that he had drunk alcohol to excess in the past and had been sober for seven years by the time he died. He had suffered from hepatitis C, which had been treated, the inquest heard.
His son Todd Campbell, who played in his father’s post-Motörhead band, attended the hearing. Coroners convene such inquests in cases of sudden or unexplained death, and the hearings take place in the district where the death occurred.
The hearing gave Campbell’s family a plain medical account of operations doctors judged necessary, ending in his death, and the coroner’s judgment that nothing could have changed the outcome.
Three Decades With Motörhead
Campbell, the Pontypridd-born Welsh musician, anchored the band’s guitar sound from 1984 until it disbanded in 2015. He was the second longest-serving member, after bassist and singer Lemmy Kilmister, real name Ian Kilmister, who founded the group in 1975. Kilmister’s death in December 2015 brought Motörhead to a close.
Campbell played on every Motörhead album from 1986’s “Orgasmatron” through 2015’s “Bad Magic.” The band had already helped pioneer heavy metal in Britain by the time he arrived, with top 10 albums including 1980’s “Ace of Spades,” 1981’s “No Sleep ’Til Hammersmith” and 1982’s “Iron Fist.”
The 1984 lineup he joined also included guitarist Mick “Wurzel” Burston and drummer Pete Gill, alongside Kilmister.
Later Years and Tributes
Campbell recorded and toured with his sons Todd, Dane and Tyla as Phil Campbell and the B****d Sons after Motörhead. The late-career second act kept him on the road into his 60s. He canceled shows in February because of health problems.
The family announced his death in March 2026 on Instagram, in a post carrying a black-and-white photograph of the guitarist with his wife, Gaynor Campbell. The family said he had spent a long period in intensive care following major surgery, and remembered him as a devoted husband, father and grandfather. The family called him “Bampi.”
“His legacy, music and the memories he created with so many will live on forever,” the family said.
Motörhead praised him as a guitarist, writer, performer and musician in a tribute, and recalled his sense of humor and his appetite for life. The band said the world had lost an enormous beam of light and that it was devastated.
His children have continued with the B****d Sons since his death.
