Blondie has announced that their founding drummer, Clem Burke, passed away on April 6 at the age of 70. “It is with profound sadness that we relay the news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer,” they wrote. “Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy, and passion for music was unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.”
Burke, born Clement Anthony Bozewski in 1954, joined Blondie in 1975 alongside vocalist Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. Together, they became faces of New York’s cutting-edge music scene, one that put them on CBGB and Max’s Kansas City bills with the likes of Talking Heads, the New York Dolls, Ramones, and Patti Smith. Blondie’s five-album run from their self-titled debut in 1976 through Autoamerican in 1980 (a run that included the hit 1978 LP Parallel Lines and its great follow-up, Eat to the Beat) remains one of the coolest and greatest peaks of any American rock band. Burke played on every Blondie album released between 1976 and 2017.
Just like his hero Ringo Starr, Clem Burke played left-handed on a right-handed drum kit. After Blondie broke up in 1982, he played on records by Iggy Pop, the Eurythmics, Nancy Sinatra, Bob Dylan, the Romantics, and many others. He formed Chequered Past with the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones in 1983 and, in 2011, co-founded the International Swingers supergroup with expats from the Sex Pistols, Generation X, and Supernaut. Along with his Blondie bandmates, Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. “His influence and contributions have spanned decades and genres, leaving an indelible mark on every project he was a part of,” Blondie later wrote in their tribute. “His legacy will live on through the tremendous amount of music he created and the countless lives he touched.”
