Nowadays, there isn't much in the way of mystique to most rock stars. They all have social media accounts, where you can interact with them daily, or you can purchase some sort of VIP package to catch them in a meet and greet before a tour.
In the 80s, these luxuries didn't exist. You couldn't just tweet Cliff Burton, you could only find him backstage at a Metallica concert. And that's exactly what John 5 seeked out to do.
John 5 told Revolver Magazine about the crazy way he was able to just walk right backstage and get a few moments with Cliff:
I went to go see Metallica twice when they were opening up for Ozzy on the Ultimate Sin tour — once at Joe Louis Arena and then at Pine Knob. And I remember I bought a pass off somebody. And I just walked backstage! I don't tell many people this, and I don't know why because it's a pretty cool story, but I remember being backstage and talking to Cliff [Burton]. And I remember he was drying his hair with a blow dryer. He was brushing his hair and drying it after the show. And he was wearing bellbottoms. And I hadn't really see that before. And I was like, "Man, I really love your band and I think you guys are the greatest." I was just talking to him! It was really weird. It was something else for me. That's for sure.
I can't imagine being a fan in the 80s and stumbling backstage just to run into a massive bass god like Cliff. What a great story.
