Cliff Burton's 92-year old father Ray Burton seems like the nicest guy on the planet, and one who really supported his son's dream. Burton unfortunately passed away in 1986 after a bus accident with Metallica, though his legendary playing still lives on in the band's first three albums.
Considering how well those albums sell, it stands to reason that Burton's family is still getting royalty checks. According to Ray in an interview with Alphabetallica, he does, and he gives all of them to scholarships for Cliff's high school, Castro Valley High School.
"From the royalties that I get, I give a scholarship to the high school he went to, the Castro Valley High School, for music. So the kids that have won it thank me for it. I think Cliff probably would have done that with his money, because he was not against education by any means. He liked it very much."
Ray also remembers the first time Cliff got a royalty check for Kill 'Em All, at which point he took his parents out to dinner for sushi! It was also a check for $1,500, which is amazing.
"I had absolutely no idea what that album meant. We realized that things had a possibility of really getting big when Cliff got his first royalty check. I think it was $1,500. He said, 'Mom and dad, here's my first check. Come on, I'll take you out to dinner tonight.' 'Okay, let's go!' We went to dinner to his favorite sushi place in Hayward, which is right next door to Castro Valley. That was the first thing that I got that maybe there were bigger things down the road."
Rest in peace Cliff, and thanks to Ray for making the world a better place with the money.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjYU5iIUUKM[/youtube]
[via Ultimate Guitar]
