Clifford Lee Burton was an American musician who was the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986.
16 Facts About Cliff Burton
2.
Cliff Burton performed on the band's first three albums, Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets.
3.
Cliff Burton was ranked 25th on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 greatest bass players of all time.
4.
Cliff Burton was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Metallica in 2009.
5.
Cliff Burton began playing the bass at age 13, after the death of his brother, who died from a brain aneurysm.
6.
Cliff Burton cited Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Stanley Clarke, Lemmy Kilmister, and Phil Lynott as major influences on his style of bass playing.
7.
The video shows Cliff Burton playing parts of what would soon be two Metallica songs: his signature bass solo, " - Pulling Teeth", and the chromatic intro to "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
8.
Cliff Burton recorded the track "Such a Shame" with the band on the second Metal Massacre compilation.
9.
The idea of having to move to Los Angeles did not sit well with Cliff Burton, who said he would join only if the band relocated from Los Angeles to his native San Francisco Bay Area.
10.
Cliff Burton said "We should just kill 'em all, man," which gave the band members an idea for the new title.
11.
Cliff Burton's body was cremated and the ashes were scattered at the Maxwell Ranch.
12.
Metallica wrote a tribute to Cliff Burton titled "To Live Is to Die" for.
13.
Cliff Burton received a writing credit for the lyrics in the middle of the song, as well as the bass lines being a medley of unused recordings Cliff Burton had performed prior to his death.
14.
In 2017, it was revealed that Cliff Burton's parents had been donating his posthumous royalty payments to a scholarship fund for music students at his alma mater Castro Valley High School.
15.
Cliff Burton played a Rickenbacker 4001 bass before joining Metallica.
16.
Cliff Burton removed the original pickups from the instrument, replacing the neck pickup with a Gibson EB and the bridge with a Seymour Duncan stacked jazz pickup, among other modifications.