Metallica History

[J-Factor]

Metallica was en route on a road between Stockholm and Copenhagen, to their next gig that was scheduled for September 27th, 1986. Earlier that night the band drew cards for the assignment of the bunks on the tour bus. As fate would have it, Cliff drew the ace of spades and chooses Kirk Hammett's bunk. Around dawn, the bus driver lost control of the bus and overcorrects with the steering wheel to get back on the road. The bus begins to skid out of control and rolls several times before coming to a halt. Cliff was ejected and pinned underneath. The band disembarks to find Cliff motionless. Later a crane was brought to the scene to lift up the bus, the band hoped Cliff could be saved. However, after lifting the bus up, it slipped back down. According to Mick Hughes, Metallica's sound engineer, no one was sure if Cliff was still alive at that point.

The "Report Of The Death Of An American Citizen Abroad" lists the cause of death as "compressio thoracis cum contusio pulm", attested by Dr. Anders Ottoson, licensed physician. The bus driver claimed that he hit a "patch of black ice". James Hetfield has since stated the infamous black ice was never found. The police report stated the air temperature at the scene was 37 degrees. However, there was no mention of ice the road. Cliff's passport, E 159240, was cancelled and returned to his parents.

His body was flown back to the United States. His funeral was held on October 7th, 1986 at Chapel Of The Valley in his hometown of Castro Valley, CA. He was cremated, and his ashes were spread at a place where he spent a lot of time at, the Maxwell Ranch. One of those in attendance was his friend, Dave DiDonato. This is his account of the scene. "We (several people and family) stood in a large circle with Cliff's ashes in the center. Each of us walked into the center and took a handful of him and said what we had to say... Then he was cast onto the Earth, in a place he loved very much."

At this point, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett could not be considered a band. They even refused to be called so. However, they were determined to do right by their friend. In an interview from February 8th, 1987, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, put it this way. "Right after the accident happened, we individually decided that, the best way to get rid of all our frustrations, would be to hit the road and get all the anxiety and frustrations out on stage, where they should go. They should go toward a positive thing like that. We were very traumatized, and felt a lot of emotional distraught over the situation. "

"The worst thing we could do is just sit in our room and sulk over the matter and wallow in our pity. The more you think about it, the deeper you sink. We each thought individually, we have to keep on going, we have to work because it wouldn't be fair to Cliff to just stop. Also if he were alive for some reason or another and like y'know he couldn't play bass, he wouldn't tell us to stop. That's the way he would've felt. He would've wanted us to go on."

(To Live Is To Die)

"When a man lies he murders"
"Some part of the world"
"These are the pale deaths"
"Which men miscall their lives"
"All this I cannot bear"
"To witness any longer"
"Cannot the kingdom of salvation"
"Take me home?"

[Lucky]

NOOO
CLIFF
rest in peice good bassist

[Grenademan]

Metallica!!