ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante (pictured below) has released the following statement regarding the passing of former IRON MAIDENdrummer Clive Burr: Clive Burr...One of my favorite drummers of all time.
"A quick story. It was 1981. I was hanging with friends in the back of the Palladium in New York City. JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN were playing. Two taxis pull up and MAIDEN get out, Steve [Harris, IRON MAIDEN bassist] and Clive hang and talk for a bit. Clive at the time was an up-and-coming drummer that I thought played with a style all his own. The drumming on 'Killers' inspired me to kick it up a notch and I did. I spoke with him and asked him for a pair of sticks. When he was done signing things, he went into the venue and 10 minutes later came out with a pair of sticks for me. I still have those sticks.
"He was awesome. I was bummed when MAIDEN let him go.
"RIP, Clive, You have influenced so many, and to this day nobody plays like you."
Burr died last night in his sleep at his home at the age of 56 after suffering from multiple sclerosis for many years.
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 Dickinson fronted before he, too, joined MAIDEN.
