Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett recalled in an interview with Steffan Chirazi that the late bassist Cliff Burton got nervous when the legendary bassists Geddy Lee from Rush and Geezer Butler from Black Sabbath went to see Metallica concerts back in the 80s. Burton tragically died at the age of 24 back in 1986.
Kirk Hammet recalls when Cliff Burton got nervous when Geddy Lee and Geezer Butler went to watch Metallica:
“Geddy Lee showed up at one of our shows on the ‘Ride The Lightning’ tour. We played Toronto, and all of a sudden we got a message backstage that Geddy Lee was in the audience.” And Cliff Burton just freaked out.”
“He started pacing, he started smoking pot, and he was, like, ‘Oh my God! Geddy! Geddy Lee!’ He could not settle down; he was so nervous and just happy at the same time that Geddy Lee was there. And then Ross tells him that Geezer Butler is out there one night. Same thing — he starts pacing around, super nervous, grabs a beer.”
Cliff Burton’s death
During the European leg of the Damage Inc. tour, the band complained that the sleeping cubicles on their tour bus were unsatisfactory and uncomfortable. To decide who received pick of the bunks, Kirk Hammett and Burton drew cards. On the evening of September 26, 1986, Burton won the game with an ace of spades, thereby getting the first choice of bunk.
Burton was sleeping shortly before 7 am on September 27 when, according to the driver, the bus skidded off the road (the E4, 12 miles (19 km) north of Ljungby), and flipped onto the grass in Kronoberg County. Burton was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him, resulting in his death.