Clem Burke, drummer for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Blondie for their entire 50-year existence, has died at age 70.
The band said in a statement that Burke died “following a private battle with cancer.”
“Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie,” the band said. “His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable.”
“His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,” they added.
Blondie was formed in 1974 by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein after they had met and played in an earlier New York City group, the Stilletos.
Burke, born Clement Bozewski in Bayonne, N.J., was the 50th drummer they auditioned, according to Harry in her 2019 memoir Face It.
“He looked good and he could play,” she wrote.
Band catalyst
Both Harry and Stein, in his 2024 memoir Under a Rock, credited Burke for encouraging the pair to keep pushing forward even as they struggled to find gigs and with lineup changes. Burke helped recruit his friend to the band, Gary Valentine, after original bassist Fred Smith departed for the band Television.
“I thought there was definitely something there, with the songs, and of course, Debbie’s charisma and talent was obvious to me,” Burke told Mojo magazine for a 2022 feature on the band.
The band gained a reputation in a fertile Manhattan club scene in the mid-1970s and released a self-titled debut album on an independent album before being signed by Chrysalis Records. Unlike other bands in the scene, Blondie were not beholden to only guitar-based rock, incorporating a range of styles into their music.
Parallel Lines, their third album, would break the band worldwide. Harry’s wry vocals and the pulsating dance rhythms of Heart of Glass, released in January 1979, sent the song to the top of the Billboard singles charts, while One Way or Another from the same album was a top 40 hit in both the U.S. and Canada.
The beat for Heart of Glass had been supplied by a Roland drum machine.
“It was threatening, I suppose, at first, but I’ve never really found myself in the situation where a drum machine was going to take over,” he said in 2022 in an interview with music streaming site Tidal.
Three Blondie albums in as many years followed, a whirlwind period in which Harry became a style icon and the band scored No. 1 Billboard hits with Call Me, The Tide Is High, and Rapture. The band paid tribute to Black artists with the latter two selections — The Tide Is High was a cover of a 1960s rocksteady favourite from Jamaica’s the Paragons, while Rapture featured one of the first raps heard in a pop hit, with Harry paying tribute in the lyrics to hip-hop pioneers Fab Freddy and Grandmaster Flash.
24:59Chris Stein: Blondie, his relationship with Debbie Harry & the ugly side of rock ‘n’ roll
As the co-founder and guitarist of the band Blondie, Chris Stein helped define the sound of American new wave music. But professional success came with serious personal trade-offs. In his new memoir, “Under a Rock,” he shares unvarnished stories about what it was really like to be a rockstar in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Chris joins guest host Talia Schlanger to reflect on that time in his life, from his romance and partnership with Debbie Harry to the sober realization that there’s nothing glamorous about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
Long list of outside credits
By 1982 the band was burned out and Stein and Harry ware also navigating their own relationship as a couple, hampered by Stein’s heroin use, he later wrote. They eventually split up but remained friends, while professionally Harry recorded four solo albums and also acted in a number of a films over a 15-year band hiatus.
After the band split, Burke first teamed with Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and singer/actor Michael Des Barres in Chequered Past, a group that recorded one album. He would go on to play sessions or gigs for artists such as the Eurythmics, Bob Dylan, Bob Geldof, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop and Pete Townshend.
“He would play with anyone because he loved to play,” Des Barres said in an online post on Monday, crediting Burke for improving the music of every act he collaborated with.
Burke was back on the drum stool for Blondie for 1999’s No Exit, the first of five albums in the band’s second act, through to the 2017 release Pollinator.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
In addition to praising his family and bandmates on the night of induction, Burke thanked “John, Paul, George and Ringo for showing me the way.” Like Ringo Starr of the Beatles, Burke was left-handed but played a kit built for right-handed players.
(1/2) In Memoriam: Clem Burke of 2006 Inductees Blondie was a versatile and distinctive drummer who played exactly what each song required – and, when called for, let loose with blistering punk rock energy. His range allowed the band to seamlessly move from the disco-infused pic.twitter.com/Th5BdYcEG4
Burke was also the drummer for the Empty Hearts, which released albums in 2014 and 2020. The band was comprised of players who first found success with the Cars, the Romantics, the Small Faces and the Chesterfield Kings.
Johnny Marr, Dave Davies of the Kinks and Nancy Sinatra — another artist Burke collaborated with — were among those paying tribute to the drummer in social media posts on Monday.
