10 Most Heartbreaking Tragedies In Rock Music

There was pretty much nothing that could stop Metallica in the mid '80s. In just a few short years, these metalheads had gone from being just a few punks from the Bay Area to one of the most prominent acts in metal, with every single member adding just the right spice to the mix. However, this metal brotherhood came abruptly to a halt after a show in Sweden.

Touring for the album Master of Puppets, Metallica were traveling through the snow-ridden backroads of Stockholm when their bus veered off the road in the early hours of the morning. After trying to recorrect the turn, the bus started to jump and roll over before finally coming to a stop. When the band members all came to, they had found bassist Cliff Burton dead on the road, having been crushed under the weight of the bus.

To this day, the memory of Cliff's death still lingers in the band, with James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett still having the memory of Cliff's lifeless feet burned into their minds. Though Metallica continued on with Jason Newsted on bass, it would be years before they finally came to terms with what happened, with To Live is To Die serving as a tribute to their fallen bassist's memory. Metallica would soon be headlining arenas off the strength of material from the Black Album, but on one snowy night, one of their most prominent voices had been silenced.