Cliff's Biography

On Septemeber 27th 1986, the heavy metal world endured the loss of a truly gifted musician. Cliff Burton was killed in a tour bus accident. He was 24...

At 9:38 PM, on February 10th 1962, Clifford Lee Burton was born to Jan and Ray Burton in Castro Valley, California. Cliff had two older siblings, his brothe Scott and sister Connie.
On May 19th 1975, tragedy struck the Burton family household when Scott David Burton died as a result of a brain aneurysm. He passed away at 11:50 AM, while enroute to the hospital. He was just 16.
At Marshall Elementary school in Castro Valley, there is a memorial plaque for Scott as well as one for Cliff, where he also attended.
Steve Doherty was Cliff's bass teacher from Septemeber 1978 to January of 1980. Steve introduced Cliff to styles ranging from Classical to Jazz. "He was a good student, very focused. He knew what he wanted. He was the kind of student who always came in with the lesson prepared, which is not all that common. We did a number of different rhythm studies. I can hear some of the odd metered rhythms we studied in his playing."
Cliff graduated from Castro Valley High in 1980.

After high school he went on to Trauma, a prominent San Francisco Bay area band noted for its impressive showmanship.Amidst the glam and the theatrics of his fellow band members, Cliff was the one who stood out the most. Cliff's on-stage presence was marked by his constant headbanging and his wild, free flying red hair.

He did record some demos with Trauma. One of those songs, "Such A Shame", can be found on Metal Massacre 2.
One night Lars and James were watching Cliff performing with Trauma and they were spellbound by his performance. The thing that struck them the most was that while you see lead guitar-playing, here you had a guy playing lead bass! They thought that was great.
After many pleas and phone calls, Cliff agreed to join Metallica. However, Cliff would only join if the band would relocate to the San Francisco Bay area. They agreed.
Replacing Ron McGovney on bass guitar, Cliff brought his own creative spark to the band. He played a bass guitar like no one ever had before. His solos drew on many styles, with odd jazz timings and psychedelic melodies. However, mere noise it was not.

His solos were superbly executed, with much feeling and finesse. A good example can be found on Metallica's Kill 'em All entitled, (Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth.
Cliff also contributed largely in the song writing department. His first contributions appeared in 1984 on Ride The Lightning.
1986 was a very eventful year for Metallica. It saw the release of their 3rd album, they did a US tour with Ozzy Osbourne, James broke his arm, and they lost a good friend.
After touring the US, they headed over to europe. On September 26th, Metallica played in Stockholm, Sweden. A day after they were on their way to Denmark for their next gig. The bus driver lost control, and the bus rolled. Cliff was ejected from the bus. When the bus stopped careening, Cliff's body was found pinned underneath.
Metallica and the rest of us, were changed forever!
Cliff's body was flown back to the US. His funeral was held on October 7th, 1986. Services were held in his hometown of Castro Valley. He was cremated, and his ashes were spread at the Maxwell Ranch.