# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/cliff-burton
# Generated: 2026-09-07T19:39:28.416Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/cliff-burton"
name: "Cliff Burton"
slug: "cliff-burton"
description: "Metallica's bassist from 1982 until a tour bus crash in Sweden killed him at 24, four months after Master of Puppets made the band inescapable."
tagline: "American bassist (1962–1986)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Metallica_1983_press_photo_(cropped).jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1962-02-10"
deathDate: "1986-09-27"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           62.69
  momentum:             4.791414228838497
  historical:           27.38382
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     75
  profileCompleteness:  85
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Musicians"
    slug: "musicians"
  - name: "Singer / Musician"
    slug: "singer-musician"
  - name: "Music"
    slug: "music"
  - name: "United States"
    slug: "united-states"
  - name: "Americas"
    slug: "americas"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
platforms:
  - platform:  "INSTAGRAM"
    url:       "https://www.instagram.com/cliffburtonfamily/"
    handle:    "cliffburtonfamily"
  - platform:  "FACEBOOK"
    url:       "https://www.facebook.com/rayhburton1"
    handle:    "rayhburton1"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1330178/"
    handle:    "nm1330178"
sources:
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    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q188973"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
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    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
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    title: "كليف بيرتون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Клиф Бъртън"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Κλιφ Μπέρτον"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "کلیف برتون"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%A3_%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%98%D7%95%D7%9F"
    title: "קליף ברטון"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
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    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://www.discogs.com/artist/364982"
    title: "Discogs"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton"
    title: "Cliff Burton"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Clifford Lee Burton played in EZ-Street and Agents of Misfortune before James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich saw him in Los Angeles and asked him to replace Ron McGovney. He recorded Kill 'Em All in 1983 and Ride the Lightning in 1984, then Master of Puppets in 1986—the album that broke Metallica worldwide and is still called one of the greatest metal records ever made. On September 27, 1986, while touring Europe to support it, Burton died when the band's bus crashed in Sweden. He was 24. He received a posthumous writing credit on "To Live Is to Die" from ...And Justice for All, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica in 2009, and appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest bassists of all time.