Clem Burke, drummer of the iconic rock Blondie group, dead at 70

The band said in a statement on their website on Monday that died of cancer, but no additional details were provided.

“Clem was not just a drummer; it was Blondie’s beat,” the band said in a statement. “His talent, energy and passion for music were unmatched, and their contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable.”

Via News

The self -proclaimed “Rock & Roll Survivalist” began playing the battery when he was 14 years old in the orchestra of his school, but was expelled for playing too strong, according to the Blondie website. In the 1970s, the announcement of a band in the voice of the town that is looking for a rock drummer “Freak Energy” replied, starting his decades with the main singer Debbie Harry and the rest of his blond bandmates.

The band recorded their first album in 1976 and the following year was on tour with icons such as Iggy Pop and David Bowie. It became known as the most commercially successful band that emerged from a fertile New York rock scene that also produced Talking Heads and the Ramones.

In 2006, Burke and the other original members of Blondie were included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after selling more than 42 million records, according to the Blondie website.

At the end of the 1970s and early 80s, the band had eight top 40 hits, including four No. 1: “Heart of Glass”, “Call Me”, “The Tide Is High” and “Rapture”, which is considered the first success number 1 to present the rap. There is also a 1955 -track 1975 album demonstration that includes “Platinum Blonde”, a kind of band statement. But Burke’s brand solidified especially with its rapid and powerful drums at the beginning of “Dreaming” in 1979.

In 2022, after digging up a New Wave treasure of reel tapes, cassettes and disc, the band created the cash set “Blondie: Antre the probabilities, 1974-1982”, with 124 tracks and 36 previously not selected recordings, demonstrations, departures and rezcled versions of the six initial albums of the six Blondie studies.

Burke reflected on the discovery in an article by News: “We would never have thought that we would still be here. Looking back in our files, it is quite surprising.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame described Burke in a publication on Monday on the social platform X as “a versatile and distinctive drummer who played exactly what each song required, and, when asked, released with Punk Rock energy.”