Late-Metallica Bassist Cliff Burton To Be Celebrated With Virtual Event

Legendary late-Metallica bassist Cliff Burton will be celebrated this evening (February 10) with a 'Cliff Burton Day' livestream event, marking what would have been Cliff's 59th birthday.

The stream is set to begin at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific via filmmaker Nicholas Gomez's Twitch channel, Twitch.tv/GomezGrip.

The event will feature conversations with Metallica guitar tech John Marshall, Cliff's former Spastik Children bandmates Fred Cotton and James McDaniel, Cliff's former girlfriend Corrine Lynn, photographer/journalist Harald Oimen and former Megaforce Records executive 'Metal' Maria Ferrero.

Fans remember Cliff as a boundary pushing bassist who's musical plasticity unlocked Metallica's more progressive-leaning mid-'80s albums. He is credited as a songwriter on Metallica's first three albums, and was responsible for arranging much of the band's lead guitar harmonies on those early records.

Cliff's home county of Alamdea, California, declared February 10 'Cliff Burton Day' in 2018.

This year's celebration will be the second since the passing of Cliff's father, Ray Burton, who died last January at age 94.

Ray remained a close friend to Metallica since his son's tragic death in 1986, and reportedly donated Cliff's royalty checks to a music scholarship program at his son's former high school. In 2009, Ray joined Metallica onstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to make a speech and accept the honor on behalf of his son.

Photo: Getty Images