The artwork for Motörhead’s classic 1980 album Ace of Spades is one of the most famous images in rock history. While it looks like Lemmy, “Fast” Eddie Clarke, and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor were photographed in a sun-baked desert in Arizona or New Mexico, the shoot actually took place in a sand quarry in Barnet, Hertfordshire, North London.
Captured by photographer Alan Ballard, who was tasked with creating a bold, cinematic visual inspired by Western films and Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” outlaw persona. Instead of traveling to the American Southwest, the record company opted for a cost-effective location nearby. The band was taken to a quarry in Barnet on a sunny day in 1980.
The band donned leather jackets, bullet belts, leather trousers, cowboy boots, and wide-brimmed hats—with “Fast” Eddie wearing a poncho to complete the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western look. To accentuate the desert feel, the sky was enhanced and airbrushed to deepen the blue tones and bring out the contrast against the pale sand, making the overcast British sky look like arid canyon heat.
Lemmy later recalled in interviews that no one believed the photograph was taken in England due to the rare, uncharacteristically perfect blue sky. It was so convincing that Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian famously admitted he thought Motörhead was a heavy Latino band from the American Southwest for the first couple of years he listened to them.
The resulting image effortlessly paired with the album’s cowboy-themed tracks like “Shoot You in the Back,” cementing one of the most recognizable and enduring images in heavy metal history.
