Death of Cliff Burton
Cliff Burton was a bassist for the heavy metal band Metallica. At an early age, he showed promise with music. During his teen years, he picked up a bass and soon mastered it. He is one of the first people to use a wah-pedal (effects pedal) for his playing. This gave any band he played in a distinctive sound. While he was playing at a local show, two other musicians named James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich arrived and heard what they thought was a guitar playing an insanely fast solo. They were shocked to discover that it was not a guitar at all. It was Cliff Burton using an effects pedal playing a bass solo. The two were shocked and wanted him in their band. He agreed on on condition: that the band move out of Los Angeles due to the local Glam Metal scene. They agreed and the band became Metallica.
Metallica included James Hetfield on Guitar and vocals, Lars Ulrich on Drums, Cliff Burton on Bass, and Dave Mustaine of Guitar. The four head-bangers gained a strong cult-following in the underground scene. They caught the attention of a record label and soon recorded their first album Kill Em All. Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band and formed a rival group called Megadeth. In his place came shredder Kirk Hammett. With this new line-up the band toured all over recording music and giving angry teens an outlet for their problems.
When Metallica recorded what many consider to be their best album, Master of Puppets, the band went on tour in Sweden. On the tour bus, the band pulled cards to see who would get which bunk. Burton got the top bunk after pulling the Ace of Spades. As the band slept, the bus hit a patch of black ice and flipped over. Everyone was alive and relatively uninjured , but Burton was nowhere to be seen. It was discovered that Burton had been crushed by the bus. His legs were sticking out from under it. He was declared dead soon after. One of the greatest bassists in rock history had passed on.
His ashes were scattered and a memorial stone was placed near the scene of the accident. Metallica eventually chose to continue on as they felt Cliff would have wanted them too. I believe they were right, Metallica became one of the biggest bands in history thanks to Cliff’s influence and talent. Rest in Peace Cliff Burton.
