The life of late METALLICA bassist Cliff Burton was celebrated with “Cliff Burton Day” on what would have been his 61st birthday, February 10. A special livestream, emceed by Nicholas Gomez, included such guests as Connie Burton, Lou Martin, Flemming Rasmussen of Sweet Silence Studios, Mike Overton of TRAUMA, John Gallagher of RAVEN, Deen Dell of VIO-LENCE, Brian Lew and Harald Oimoen from the movie/ book “Murder In The Front Row”, photographer Gene Ambo, Castro Valley hometown friends Joe Cabral, Judd of Judd’s Barn, and Tony Martin. Their stories and memories of Cliff are not to be missed and are too in depth to be shared in just one broadcast.
This year is the sixth annual Cliff Burton Day, as officially declared by Cliff‘s hometown of Castro Valley and the greater Alameda County.
These stories will bring you back to the influential early days, with an in-depth look into the life, the times, and the location of an unknowing musical phenomenon.
Limited-edition Cliff Burton Day 2023 shirts were made available for pre-order starting February 1, with 100% of the proceeds going to support the Cliff Burton Music Scholarship, awarded by the Cliff Burton family.
Cliff was asked to join METALLICA in 1982 after the band saw him perform with his group at the time, TRAUMA.
The bassist was not willing to move to Los Angeles, where METALLICA was based, so they decided to move to the San Francisco area so that he would join.
Burton played on METALLICA‘s first three studio albums — “Kill ‘Em All”, “Ride The Lightning” and “Master Of Puppets” — and co-wrote classic songs like “Ride The Lightning”, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, “Fade To Black”, “Creeping Death” and “Master Of Puppets”.
Burton‘s initial replacement in the group was Jason Newsted, who stayed in the lineup until 2001. Robert Trujillo joined in 2003 and remains in the band to this day.
February 10, 2018 was proclaimed “Cliff Burton Day” by Alameda County supervisors. The late METALLICA bassist would have turned 56 years old on that date had he lived.
Burton died in a tragic tour bus accident in 1986.
Cliff‘s huge talent and achievements were chronicled in book form with the 2009 global publication of “To Live Is To Die: The Life And Death Of Metallica’s Cliff Burton”, written by U.K.-based author Joel McIver and published by Jawbone Press. The foreword was provided by METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett.