This is former Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, one of my personal idols and the greatest influence on me as a bassist. Cliff was an absolute badass and a phenomenally gifted musician and composer. At the age of 21, he wrote "(Anaesthesia) Pulling Teeth", one of the most famous bass solos ever, and made it sound more like a guitar solo. At the age of 22, he proved that wah wasn't just for Hendrix imitators by utterly dominating the eight-minute instrumental "The Call Of Ktulu" with his bass, his Big Muff distortion pedal, and Morley wah pedal. At the age of 23, he played an enormous part in Metallica's incredible "Master Of Puppets" album, his 220bpm basslines rumbling and thundering beneath James Hetfield's chugging, breakneck guitar riffs, and also wrote beautiful pastoral sections and guitar harmonies into Metallica's music, inspired by his twin loves of Thin Lizzy and Johann Sebastian Bach. Cliff's life was tragically snuffed out at the age of 24 when, driving through Sweden, Metallica's tour bus skidded on black ice and slid into a ditch, tilting onto its side as it went. Cliff was thrown through one of the side windows and crushed by the bus as it landed on him.

This month, I marked what would have been his 44th birthday by playing "Battery" and Master Of Puppets" on bass, two of my favourite Cliff-era Metallica songs, also playing his two most famous bass solos, "...Pulling Teeth" and the bass instrumental section from "Orion". I also began drawing this on the 12th, and I just finished it tonight. The original photograph from which it was taken was by Metallica's official photographer for several years, Ross Halfin, at a festival in '86. I'm generally very happy with this, except for what usually irks me when I'm drawing a musician: the bass -- the neck, at least -- looks bad. I think it does, anyway. If you think differently, thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Anyway...

Cliff, this is for you, man. Rest in peace, you genius.