Cliff Burton

Biography

He had two elder siblings, Scott and Connie. He was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Burton's interest in music began when his father introduced him to classical music and he began taking piano lessons. In his teenage years, Burton had an interest in rock, classical, and eventually heavy metal. He began playing the bass at age 13, after the death of his brother. His parents quoted him as ...

Trivia

Burton was a fingerstyle player, unlike Ron McGovney (his predecessor in Metallica) and his subsequent replacements Jason Newsted and Robert Trujillo, who have all used a pick often or at least once, though the latter performs in mostly fingerstyle.

While on their tour in Sweden, the band was complaining about how bad the sleeping cubicles were in their bus. Cliff and Kirk Hammett drew cards ...