Died On This Date (March 12, 2013) Clive Burr / Original Drummer For Iron Maiden
themusicsover Clive Burr
March 8, 1957 – March 12, 2013
Clive Burr is best remembered as Iron Maiden‘s first drummer. After playing in another legendary British metal band Samson for a year or two, Burr joined Iron Maiden. Replacing Doug Sampson in 1979, Burr was on board for the band’s first three albums, Iron Maiden, Killers, and their international breakthrough, Number Of The Beast. As a songwriter, Burr contributed “Gangland” and “Total Eclipse” to the Iron Maiden discography. After leaving the band in 1982, Burr played with such outfits as Trust, Alcatrazz, Dee Snyder‘s Desperado, and his own band, Stratus. In 1994, Burr was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, prompting Iron Maiden to launch the Clive Burr MS Trust Fund and staged a series of benefit concerts to help offset his mounting medical bills. In 2005, his drum kit went on display in the London Hard Rock Cafe. Clive Burr passed away in his sleep on March 12, 2013. He was 56.
Thanks to David Plastik of eRockPhotos for the assist.
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With his band, Samson, Paul Samson helped usher in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal of the late ’70s. With contemporaries like Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Girlschool, Samson brought a cleaner, more progressive sound to the metal that originated from the likes of Black Sabbath. Forming the band in 1978, Samson built a steady cult following over it’s six-year existence. At one point, the band was fronted by Bruce Bruce who later changed his name back to Bruce Dickinson and left to join Iron Maiden. Samson’s guitar could also be heard on Ram Jam’s 1977 hit, “Black Betty.” Samson died of cancer while recording a Samson comeback album in 2002.
