Tomorrow, February 10th, Cliff Burton’s hometown of Castro Valley California will be celebrating the very first ‘Cliff Burton Day,’ in his hometown of Castro Valley California, a day in which Cliff would have been 56 had he not tragically died in a bus accident in 1986. What’s the back story of that dreadful morning?
Cliff Burton was on top of the world, playing bass for the hottest rock band in the world Metallica. The band was on the ‘Master of Puppets’ tour in Europe, traveling by chartered bus. Kirk Hammett, James, and Cliff were all unhappy with their bus sleeping births, complaining of the lack of space. They decided to play a game of cards, with the winner getting to choose the best sleeping birth.
As fate would have it (much like the Buddy Holly story) Cliff won and claimed Kirk’s birth. At 7 am that following morning the bus overturned throwing Cliff out onto the grass, the bus rolling over him killing him instantly.
We’ll be thinking of you Cliff this Saturday, February 10th on ‘Cliff Burton Day,’ in Castro Valley California.
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Photo credit: Yulia Grigoryeva / Shutterstock.com