Following a successful Change.org petition helmed by avid Metallica fans, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has named February 10 as “Cliff Burton Day” in the Bay Area region of Castro Valley, California. Metallica posted an image of the official proclamation honoring the band’s late bass player, who died while on tour with the band in 1986, on Instagram. The band expressed thanks to “all of the fans who got behind this initiative and we’d like to send our appreciation and respect to all of you who continue to honor Cliff in your own personal ways. We love that he remains so revered.”
Castro Valley was Burton’s hometown, and as the band’s post pointed out, “the reason [Metallica] high-tailed it to the Bay Area back in ’83.” Burton began his tenure with the band in 1982, and plays on the band’s influential formative albums Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. Burton would have turned 56 on February 10. Read the proclamation below.
