Remembering Cliff Burton with Friends, Family, and Music

Late Metallica legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Cliff Burton would have turned 62 on February 10. In honor of his birthday, friends held their annual tribute to the musician who called Castro Valley home.

Late Metallica legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Cliff Burton would have turned 62 on February 10. In honor of his birthday, friends held their annual tribute to the musician who called Castro Valley home. 

This year’s “Cliff Burton Day” event started at the Chabot Theater with stories of the celebrated bassist and ended with a massive music jam at the Valley Inn on Castro Valley Boulevard. Nicknamed "The Major Rager,” Cliff died on September 27, 1986, in a bus accident while on tour with Metallica in Sweden. He was 24.  

Childhood friend and Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin and host Nicholas Gomez spoke with Cliff’s family and friends about their memories of Cliff, including his older sister Connie.

“Happy Birthday to my brother Cliff!” Connie Burton shouted out to the audience. She recalled the many times she drove her little brother to Bordin’s home so the two could practice music. Connie also revealed the back story of the skull tattoo on Cliff’s right shoulder. 

“I remember one day he was in his room looking at pictures of skulls and listening to the band The Misfits,” Connie said. “And when he came home with a skull tattoo on his arm, I asked him about it. And he replied that he wanted a design that was different from all the rest. It represented his originality.”

Bordin reflected that he, Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin, and Burton started playing music together around 12 or 13 years old. He added that Cliff leaned into the bass guitar because he wanted to learn the TV intro to "Barney Miller."  The friendships later transformed into hard rock bands like EZ-Street, Agents of Misfortune, and Trauma. Several of the members of each band appeared on stage to pay tribute to Cliff.

“It was the vibe in Castro Valley,” Bordin said. “Everybody knew everybody else, and we played our own and each other's instruments. It was a good way to learn. We were all very supportive of each other.”

Bordin added that at one time, Burton had a very large subwoofer cabinet in the back of Bordin's mom's car that would need to be transported to and from gigs because it was the only vehicle that would fit in it. Once, going up the steep driveway with the speaker, the cabinet fell out and broke the street.

“It was a beast of a cabinet,” joked Bordin.

This is the seventh year the community has come out to celebrate Burton. Castro Valley and Alameda County officials commemorated the day in 2018 following an organized campaign by Robert Souza. 

Cliff’s father, Ray, carried on his son’s legacy until he passed away in January 2020 at 94. Along with Cliff’s mother, who passed away in 1993, the family set up a Castro Valley High School music student scholarship in Cliff’s name, funded by Burton’s music royalties. This year, the family established an additional “Cliff Burton Scholarship Fund for Rising Youth Musicians.” This year’s first-ever scholarship recipients were two girls from Mexico—Nirvana (11) and Aixa (8) Sota. The girls provided a video of the two shredding on guitar and drums to “Master of Puppets.” 

Burton’s legacy has carried far beyond his music. The Cliff Burton Museum opened in Laganland, Ljungby, Sweden, in May 2022. Pop culture collectible designers at Super7 created two Cliff Burton action figures. San Francisco-based KnuckleBonz sells a collectible statue, and Walnut Creek's Calicraft Brewing crafted an IPA named after him called “Cliff Em' All IPA.”