Clive Burr (pictured above, bottom left), former drummer for heavy metal band Iron Maiden, died in his sleep last night (March 12) at age 56. Burr had been battling poor health for years, according to the band’s official site, and had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In a statement on the band’s site, former bandmate Steve Harris gave his condolences:
“This is terribly sad news,” he says. “Clive was a very old friend of all of us. He was a wonderful person and an amazing drummer who made a valuable contribution to Maiden in the early days when we were starting out."
Born in 1957 in East Ham, London, Burr joined Maiden in 1979. He had already been a member of rising band, Samson, in previous years, but it was in Iron Maiden that his drumming expertise would radiate. Burr contributed from 1980-1982 on Maiden's first three studio albums, “Iron Maiden,” “Killers,” and “The Number Of The Beast” giving life to tracks like “Wrathchild” and “Run to the Hills.”
Their first album with Dickinson at the helm, "Beast" was Maiden's first top 40 album on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 33 in 1982. It spent 65 weeks on the chart, and continues to be the band's longest-charting album.
"Beast" contains the song "Gangland," Burr's lone songwriting contribution with the group.
After leaving Iron Maiden 1982, Burr performed with various bands including Trust, Elixir and Praying Mantis before being diagnosed with MS in 1994.
“I kept dropping things,” Burr told Classic Rock Magazine in 2011. “I couldn’t grip properly. I could barely keep hold of my sticks.”
After his diagnosis, Iron Maiden helped lessen medical costs by forming the Clive Burr MS Trust Fund and performing various charity concerts, according to Rolling Stone. In the final years of Burr’s life, he was confined to a wheelchair. Despite these conditions, Maiden singer, Bruce Dickinson pointed out Burr’s positive outlook on life.
“I first met Clive when he was leaving Samson and joining Iron Maiden,” he said. “He was a great guy and a man who really lived his life to the full. Even during the darkest days of his M.S., Clive never lost his sense of humour or irreverence. This is a terribly sad day and all our thoughts are with Mimi and the family.”
01. Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden 02. At The Gates - At War With Reality 03. Horrendous - Ecdysis 04. Triptykon - Melana Chasmata 05. Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire 06. Thou - Heathen 07. YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend 08. Vallenfyre - Splinters 09. Panopticon - Roads To The North 10. Morbus Chron - Sweven 11. Dead Congregation - Promulgation Of The Fall 12. Machine Head - Bloodstone & Diamonds 13. Woods Of Desolation - As The Stars 14. Tombs - Savage Gold 15. Krieg - Transient 16. Iron Reagan - The Tyranny Of Will 17. Cult Of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान 18. Gridlink - Longhenna 19. The Oath - The Oath 20. Behemoth - The Satanist 21. Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere 22. Autopsy - Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves 23. Primordial - Where Greater Men Have Fallen 24. Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution 25. Wreck & Reference - Want 26. Teitanblood - Death 27. Trap Them - Blissfucker 28. Young And In The Way - When Life Comes To Death 29. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun 30. Eyehategod - Eyehategod 31. Cretin - Stranger 32. Midnight - No Mercy For Mayhem 33. Thantifaxath - Sacred White Noise 34. Lord Mantis - Death Mask 35. Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare 36. Cannibal Corpse - A Skeletal Domain 37. Solstafir - Otta 38. Execration - Morbid Dimensions 39. Incantation - Dirges Of Elysium 40. Floor - Oblation
The closer you get to the meaning
The sooner you'll know that you're dreaming
In other news, I just went online to purchase my three day pass for Hellfest 2015 in June and it is sold out. WTF?!? I was planning my whole summer vacation around it.
In other news, I just went online to purchase my three day pass for Hellfest 2015 in June and it is sold out. WTF?!? I was planning my whole summer vacation around it.
My fave musical discovery of 2014 is Windhand, a metal band from Richmond, VA. I absolutely fell in love with this band over the summer. My description of them musically is Neil Young sitting in and playing lead guitar with Black Sabbath. The vocalist is a young woman named Dorthia Cotrell. As a songwriter she reminds me of the more English Folk influenced Robert Plant ("Battle of Evermore") and Sandy Denny. She is way down in the mix, so much that it is hard to decipher the lyrics. I really like that they do this because 1) if forces the listener to pay closer attention to the music and 2) it gives the song this real hypnotic effect. It is heavy metal that can be used for yoga.
I have nowhere else to go. There is no demand in the priesthood for elderly drug addicts
