Clive Burr — the late, early-Iron Maiden Drumming Prodigy

Clive Burr (March 8th, 1957 – March 12th, 2013)

FORMER IRON MAIDEN DRUMMER CLIVE BURR PASSES AWAY

Published: Mar 13, 2013

We are deeply saddened to report that Clive Burr passed away last night. He had suffered poor health for many years after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and died peacefully in his sleep at home.

Steve Harris said “This is terribly sad news. 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. This is a sad day for everyone in the band and those around him and our thoughts and condolences are with his partner Mimi and family at this time."

Bruce Dickinson adds “I first met Clive when he was leaving Samson and joining Iron Maiden. 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”

As Maiden fans all know, Clive joined Maiden in 1979 and performed on the first three albums Iron Maiden (1980), Killers (1981) and The Number Of The Beast (1982). Prior to that he was a member of Samson, the band Bruce fronted before he too joined Maiden.

Iron Maiden is widely-considered the Most Successful Heavy Metal Band in Music History
15 studio albums – 85 million records worldwide

Burr left the band in 1982 due to Iron Maiden's tour schedule and personal problems. He was replaced by the band's current drummer, Nicko McBrain. Burr co-wrote one song on The Number of the Beast, "Gangland", and another song, "Total Eclipse", that was cut from the album and showed up as the b-side of the "Run to the Hills" single, and later on the Number Of The Beast remastered CD re-release.

Heavy Metal icon — legendary lead singer of Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson considered Burr to be "...the best drummer the band ever had. That's not taking anything away from [present drummer] Nicko. Technically, Nicko's probably a far more competent drummer than Clive. It's just that Clive had this incredible feel, and you can't learn that, and I regret that he wasn't given more time to try and sort himself out." 

  

R.I.P. Clive Burr R.I.P.