Clifford Lee "Cliff" Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the American thrash heavy metal band Metallica.
Burton joined Metallica in 1982 and performed on the band's first three studio albums, Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets. He also received a posthumous writing credit for the song "To Live Is to Die" from the band's fourth studio album ...And Justice For All.
On September 27, 1986, Burton died in a bus accident in rural southern Sweden as the band was touring in support of the Master of Puppets album. Burton was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica on April 4, 2009. In 2011, an online Rolling Stone reader poll selected him as the ninth greatest bassist of all time.
