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In a 2012 interview for his autobiography, hard-living Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen said there would be three men standing when the rest of the world comes to an end: him, Keith Richards, and Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister.

For decades, Kilmister has boasted about his affinity for wine, women, and song… Actually, he’s been more of a posterchild for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. He’d roll out of bed in the early afternoon, don his cowboy hat, light a cigarette, and pour a half glass of Jack Daniel’s with a splash of Coke. Then he’d repeat the process throughout the day, frequently at one of his favorite hangouts, the Rainbow Bar and Grill in Hollywood. Pity those who have tried to keep up with his imbibing.

“I meet all these guys in bands who are fans, and so many of them think they can go drink-for-drink with me,” he says in a raspy, at times indecipherable English accent. “I don’t know why they do that. So many of them have wound up on the floor or throwing up all night.”

Recently, the 69-year-old rock legend has cut back substantially on the partying, and some recent health scares have left fans worrying about their hero. On Aug. 27, just three songs into Motörhead’s set in Salt Lake City, Kilmister felt ill and had to cancel the rest of the gig.

“My back was killing me and I got short of breath,” he reveals in a rare interview over the phone, the day before a concert at Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York. “It’s just one of those things, you know?”

Motörhead put the kibosh on an Aug. 28 show in Denver as well. A statement from the band’s management said the high altitudes in those two cities affected Lemmy’s ability to breathe. Kilmister took the stage on Sept. 1 in Austin, but a few songs in he told the crowd, “I can’t do it,” and walked off. Shows scheduled for Sept. 2, 4, and 5 in San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, respectively, were canceled as well.

“I feel really badly about that, but it couldn’t be helped,” Kilmister says. “We’ll have to go back and redo those shows.”

The string of cancelations was alarming to fans because of the medical conditions Kilmister experienced two years ago. Suffering from an irregular heartbeat, he went under the knife and doctors inserted a mini-defibrillator, which jumpstarts his heart if it doesn’t seem to be beating normally. In reaction, Kilmister cheekily named Motörhead’s blistering 2013 album Aftershock.

Kilmister didn’t bounce back as doctors had hoped, due to complications from diabetes, with which he was diagnosed in 2000. He also suffered a hematoma, which caused the cancelation of several European festival shows. He gave up smoking for two years and switched from drinking whiskey and Coke to vodka and orange juice, which contains a more easily digested type of liquor and a healthier mixer. He also smokes a pack of cigarette per week. “Those are harder to quit than heroin,” he insists.

Despite the setbacks, Motörhead’s ringmaster says he’s feeling pretty good for a man his age and that fans should relax and get ready to enjoy upcoming shows. The band is currently touring behind 22nd studio album Bad Magic, which came out Aug. 28 and debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200, marking the band’s best-charting album in the U.S. The record, a barreling, bluesy rock 'n’ roll excursion, with a brief stopover for the reflective ballad “Till the End” and a full-fisted cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” should keep fans bounding through the moshpits at least until Motörhead return to the studio.

LEMMY KILMISTER: Well, it means we get played a little more, and that’s good. We’ve never been a hit band in America. We’ve never been in the charts. So it’s good for the band and it’s good for the business

You’re playing summer sheds and larger venues than you’ve played in recent years. Is it satisfying to see that there’s more of a demand for fans to see Motörhead live?

Yeah, we played Jones Beach before with Judas Priest, but we were opening. It’s nice to be doing our own show there. It just seems like we get more popular every eight years or so. For some reason, it becomes cool to like Motörhead again.