Definitely a dark day in rock history. Metallica was building steam and on the verge of becoming one of the biggest bands in history. Luck was not on their side on Sept 27, 1986 in a rural area of southern Sweden when Metallica’s bus wrecked and Cliff was ejected and killed. Since Cliff Burton’s tragic death in 1986, the bassist’s royalties have been sent to his family. “One of the things from the royalties that I get, I give a scholarship to the high school he went to, Castro Valley High School, for music,” Ray Burton (Cliff’s father) said. “The kids who won it they invariably write and thank me for. And I think Cliff probably would have done that with his money, because he was not against education by any means. He liked it very much.”
“He was quite a humble person,” Ray added. “He just didn’t like the strutting types that so much of the rock ‘n’ roll musicians get to be when they get popular. He just liked to do his wild playing of heavy metal music. He never changed.”
Check out the videos below of Metallica talking about Cliff’s death and in my opinion the best example of Cliff shredding a bass.