Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who served as the bassist for the thrash metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986.

Burton's early musical ventures include performing in bands such as EZ-Street and Agents of Misfortune, and frequently collaborating with guitarist Jim Martin.

He was discovered by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich while performing in Los Angeles, who asked him to replace bassist Ron McGovney in Metallica.

[5] Burton cited Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Stanley Clarke, Lemmy Kilmister, and Phil Lynott as major influences on his style of bass playing.

The video also shows Burton playing parts of what would soon be two Metallica songs: his signature bass solo, "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth", and the chromatic intro to "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

Upon hearing, as Hetfield described it, "this amazing shredding" (parts of which later became "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth"), the two decided to recruit Burton for their own band.

They asked him to replace departed bassist Ron McGovney, and since Burton thought that Trauma was "starting to get a little commercial",[7] he agreed.

[5] Metallica, eager to have Burton in the band, left to make a home in El Cerrito,[8] a town located across the bay from San Francisco.

A demo tape the band had made prior to Burton's joining, No Life 'til Leather, managed to come into the hands of Jon Zazula, owner of Megaforce Records.

Metallica's debut album, Kill 'Em All, was originally intended to inherit the name of one of their earlier demo releases (predating Burton's participation), which was Metal Up Your Ass, but the record company did not like the title and insisted on changing it.

[20] Current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo was also present and was the first to try out the bass, playing parts of "(Anesthesia) - Pulling Teeth".

[25] With no safety restraints on the bunks, Burton was thrown violently through the window of the bus, which then fell on top of him, killing him instantly.

When local freelance photographer Lennart Wennberg (who attended the crash-scene the following morning) was asked in a later interview about the likelihood that black ice caused the accident, he said it was "out of the question" because the road was dry and the temperature around 2 °C (36 °F), above the freezing point of 0 °C (32 °F).

Ljungby detective Arne Pettersson was reported in a local newspaper to have said the tracks at the accident site were exactly like ones seen when drivers fall asleep at the wheel.

These include, Adam Duce, Alex Webster, Chi Cheng,[28] Dick Lövgren,[29] Johnny Christ,[30] Justin Chancellor,[31] Liam Wilson,[32] Mike D'Antonio,[33] Martín Méndez,[34] Paolo Gregoletto,[35] Paul Gray,[36] Paulo Jr.,[37] Reginald Arvizu[38] Tony Campos,[39][40] and Troy Sanders.

On April 4, 2009, Burton was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Metallica bandmates James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett.

During the ceremony, the induction was accepted by his father Ray Burton, who shared the stage with the band and said that Cliff's mother was Metallica's biggest fan.

[46] A biography, To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton, written by Joel McIver, was published by Jawbone Press in June 2009.

[1] In 2017, it was revealed that Burton's parents had been donating his posthumous royalty payments to a scholarship fund for music students at his alma mater Castro Valley High School.