Clive Burr played drums on Iron Maiden's first three albums and the tours that supported them. And while his tenure with the group lasted merely three years, Burr's contributions to many of the British heavy metal band's most popular songs are not to be overlooked. In fact, despite the well-deserved popularity of his eventual long-term replacement, Nicko McBrain, Burr remained the favored drummer of countless Maiden fans. Even lead singer Bruce Dickinson has opined that Burr's instinctive style may have suited Maiden's sound better than McBrain's more proficient technique.

Clive Burr was born on March 8, 1957, in the London suburb of East Ham and took an interest in drums at an early age, first assembling a makeshift drum kit from household materials before receiving his first real set at age 15. By then, Burr had discovered hard rock and heavy metal and became especially fond of Deep Purple and its superb drummer, Ian Paice, whose singular power and feel astride the kit became a major influences on the younger man's playing style. Come the late '70s, Burr was semi-professional and involved with several bands, eventually connecting with one of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal's most promising players, Samson, later to feature future Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, or Bruce Bruce, as he was known at the time. It was a few years thereafter, near the end of 1979, that Burr received a call from then-Iron Maiden guitarist Dennis Stratton suggesting he audition for the group, and he did so, successfully.

Fatefully, Burr joined Iron Maiden in the nick of time: replacing longstanding drummer Doug Sampson (who was allegedly unable to cope with the growing rigors of touring life) shortly after the band had inked its major recording deal with EMI, and just before they started recording their now legendary first album. Both that eponymous 1980 debut and 1981's sophomore success, Killers, immediately proved Burr's mettle (including the habit of matching bass and guitar lines with clean precision on tracks like "Phantom of the Opera" and "Genghis Khan"), but he would arguably leave his biggest mark on the band's third album and widely acknowledged all-time classic, The Number of the Beast, in 1982. Here, Burr's distinctive combination of versatility and boundless energy surfaced as integral driving forces behind lasting Maiden classics like the iconic title track, the multifaceted epic "Hallowed Be Thy Name," and the galloping hit single "Run to the Hills."

But trouble loomed midway through the ensuing Beast on the Road tour, when Burr was called home to attend to his father's funeral, leaving Maiden to soldier on with former Trust drummer Nicko McBrain as a temporary replacement. As soon as he rejoined the band, Burr noticed a change of demeanor in some of his bandmates, and his worst fears were realized when he was unceremoniously dismissed from Iron Maiden at tour's end, to be permanently replaced by McBrain. At the time, the media latched onto rumors of Burr's excessive alcohol and drug abuse as the reasons behind his sacking, but the drummer would later insist that these were unfounded, defending his quiet acceptance of his fate as part and parcel of grieving his father's sudden passing. What's more, there was no shortage of offers to join other bands, so Burr proceeded to rehearse with Graham Bonnett's Alcatrazz (for just one week) before linking up with Nicko McBrain's old band, Trust, ironically enough, for what amounted to a pair of albums: 1983's eponymous Trust and 1984's Man's Trap.

In 1985, the drummer reunited with onetime Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno in the ill-fated NWOBHM supergroup Gogmagog, also including guitarists Janick Gers (Gillan, White Spirit, future Iron Maiden) and Pete Willis (ex-Def Leppard), plus bassist Neil Murray (Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Vow Wow, etc.), but the band stalled after recording a single EP. Subsequently, Burr became the very definition of a journeyman, putting in time with Dee Snider's Desperado project, before further beefing up his NWOBHM résumé with stints behind the kit with Elixir (see 1990's Lethal Potion LP) and Praying Mantis, with whom he toured for a few years, participating in 1996's Captured Live album. It was a far cry from Maiden-level stardom, but it was work, nonetheless, and a decent way to earn a living.

But fate intervened, when, after years of experiencing tingling sensations in his fingers that gradually made it difficult for him to grip his sticks, Burr sought medical assistance and was diagnosed with incurable, progressive multiple sclerosis. The only upside was how Burr's former Iron Maiden bandmates rallied to support him by, among other things, promoting charity drives and playing a series of so-called "Clive-Aid" events to help cover their former drummer's rising medical bills and improve his living conditions. Still, by the end of the '90s, Burr's drumming career was effectively over and his deteriorating condition bound him to a wheelchair, but nothing could stop him from accumulating new fans with every copy sold of those first three seminal Iron Maiden albums he performed on. Clive Burr died in his sleep at his home in London on March 12, 2013; he was 56 years old. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi