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There are several tributes to Cliff Burton on the web. We have tried to make our tribute as complete as possible. We have put together a collection of quotes from Cliff himself and others, his biography, many little known facts and the equipment Cliff used. You will also find over 100 pictures of Cliff and Metallica with Cliff.

We hope we truly convey who Cliff Burton was as a person, a musician and someone that was loved and respected by all. We didn't write the factual information, so we take no credit for that. However our thoughts and feelings about Cliff Burton are our own.

To us, Cliff Burton was one of the most talented musicians that ever lived. He could play the bass like you couldn't believe. Cliff was a major part in making Metallica the band it is today. A lot of the newer fans may not have a lot of knowledge about Cliff Burton, but if they did, they would realize what a force in the band he was. In our opinion there may never be another bassist to match or beat Cliff Burton. He was definitely a ONE-OF-A-KIND! He will never be forgotten by people like us, the true fans of Metallica.

Clifford Lee Burton was born on February 10, 1962 at 9:38pm at the Eden Hospital in San Francisco, CA. His parents were two San Francisco hippies, Jan and Ray Burton. It was from them that Cliff got his image, his hippie ideals, but most of all, his attitude.

Ray was a native of Tennesse, and worked as an Assistant Highway Engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jan was a native of California. She worked for the Castro Valley school district. She taught students with disabilities. Cliff had a brother Scott David and sister Connie. On May 19, 1975 Scott died at 11:50am on the way to the hospital from a brain aneurysm.

Cliff began playing the piano when he was 6 years old. He started playing the bass while a teenager. He took bass lessons from September 1978 to January 1980.

Cliff had his own style. He was really laid back, relaxed and happy. Cliff liked his beer, his pot, etc. He drove a 1972 VW station wagon named "The Grasshopper". Cliff wore bell-bottoms, read H. P. Lovecraft, liked Mexican food, pier fishing, hunting, jamming and hanging out with his two best friends Dave and Jim. He grew up near San Francisco with Faith No More guitarist, Jim Martin. Burton was a cross between Clint Eastwood and E. F. Hutton. He didn't say much, but when he did, people listened.

Back in late 1982, it was decided that former bassist Ron McGovney wasn't really pulling his weight in Metallica. He wasn't taking the band seriously, which James and Lars had a real problem with. By that time, Metallica was beginning to go down. Lars and James were having problems with their Lead Guitarist, Dave Mustaine, because of his growing addictions and abuse of alcohol and drugs, and the terrible conflicts that he and James had on stage were becoming more frequent. Also James didn't want to sing anymore because he felt he wasn't doing a good enough job, so he proposed that he play Rhythm Guitar only.

Cliff was discovered in August of 1982. One of Metallica's peer bands up north making the rounds about this time was Trauma. In addition to being a favorite Bay-area club circuit draw, the band was gaining recognition through their one-song demo, featuring "Such a Shame" that eventually was transferred to vinyl on Metal Massacre II. More noteworthy, however, Trauma possessed within its ranks "the most head banging bassist" Lars and James had ever seen - Cliff Burton.

They initially spotted him during a live Trauma show at LA's Troubadour. Lars and James were very impressed by the way he played the bass.

"We heard this wild solo going on and thought, 'I don't see any guitar player up there.' It turned out it was the bass player, Cliff, with a wah wah pedal and this mop of hair. He didn't care whether people were there. He was looking down at his bass playing."
--- James Hetfield ---

Metallica set out on a grand pursuit to get Cliff to join the band. Burton presented the Los Angeles station band with an ultimatum, 'If Metallica relocated to San Francisco, he would join them.'

Metallica, with all their problems, relocated to San Francisco, where they were better received than in Los Angeles. Their first jam with Cliff occurred in the house of sound-man Mark Witaker, where their was a studio type setup in his garage. At the time James and Lars were living there, having relocated Metallica to the Bay Area in 1983 to be closer to Cliff. They recorded a 4 track demo and on March 5, 1983, Cliff played for the first time with Metallica at the Stone, in San Francisco. This was the beginning of 3 1/2 incredible years.

Cliff lived with his family in San Francisco, and for three and a half years he worked hard to take Metallica to the top. After replacing Ron McGovney in late 1982, Cliff instantly made a name for himself with his classic "wind-mill" style of thrashing on stage, with his hair flying out in all directions, and with his outdated, completely "unfashionable" image. With his hair hanging straight down from him head, he seemed seemed to be always dressed in a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a faded denim jacket. If it was cold, he wore a flannel shirt underneath.

Offstage, he was the ultimate laid-back Californian, a total opposite from his wild, aggressive on-stage attack. His sense of humor was great, as were his bass solos and everything about his stage presence. He was the most visual of all the band on-stage, he would just go wild. Cliff was also responsible for expanding the scope of Metallica's lyrical themes. Along with Kirk, he admired the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

The best example of how cool and unflappable Cliff was happened in the summer of 1985 at their Castle Donnington Festival appearance (August 17, 1985). Having ducked beneath a flying pear which ended up embedding itself in his bass bin, Burton coolly sauntered over to his stack, picked up the pear, took two bites out of it and hurled it back into the crowd.

Cliff was also a fine and inventive soloist, and his clever use of distortion and wah-wah in his "(Anesthesia) -- Pulling Teeth" showpiece made it one of the highlights of the band's live set. More importantly, Cliff was one hell of a nice guy and a much-loved figure in the Metallica camp. He always went out of his way to talk to the band's fans, no matter how tired he was. He was certainly the most unanimously appreciated by the band members as well as by the public.

For a while there it really looked as if 1986 was gonna be Metallica's year. After all, their third LP, Master of Puppets, had literally taken the music world by storm and, in doing so, had made the band virtual mega-stars in the eyes of the metal-doting public. Metallica had finally "made it", and it seemed that nothing could halt their inexorable rise to even greater glory. Then, during the European leg of the group's phenomenally successful Master of Puppets world tour, something went wrong - catastrophically wrong.