10 Hard Rock Musicians That Died Too Soon

In the era where hairspray and makeup ruled the metal community, Metallica was the polar antithesis with a sound that broke you in half. The band's combination of traditional metal with punk tendencies helped lay the groundwork for thrash metal and form a new subsect of heavy rock that was looking for something heavier than Judas Priest.

Out of all the members of Metallica, Cliff Burton was by the the most musically gifted. Far from being just a standard bass player, Burton's style led him to create some of the greatest moments in the history of the bass guitar like his classical runs on "Orion" and the sonic monster he created on "The Call of Ktulu."

The band's future seemed endless, by one stop during the band's tour of Sweden brought everything back down to Earth. After settling in for the night, the group's tour bus started to roll off the road, sending Burton flying out the window and being crushed by the vehicle. When the band came to, one of the foundations of their sound had died right underneath that bus. While the band soldiered on and even prospered with bassists Jason Newsted and Robert Trujillo, Cliff Burton was truly one of a kind whose musical intuition could have made for something even more legendary had he lived.