10 Musical Artists Who Never Got To Become Superstars

There are probably a good contingency of metal fans who are probably furious at your humble author for putting a legend like Cliff Burton on a list like this. After all, Cliff's performances have been played out far too many times to keep count, with his contributions to Metallica being some of the most beloved of all time. Here's the thing though: how much of this praise was able to be witnessed in real time?

Throughout most of Metallica's original tenure, most of Cliff's performances were excluded for only the hardcore fans of the band, who saw him wail both in concert and on the deep cuts of the record like the bass solo Anesthesia or the wild classical piece in the middle half of Orion. Much like any musical prodigee like Cliff, it felt like that artistic fire got snuffed out before we were ready for it to be over.

Dying in a bus accident during the tour for Master of Puppets, the loss of Cliff made everyone realize his key contributions, coming out in the eulogized Megadeth track In My Darkest Hour and the heartbreaking instrumental To Live is To Die on And Justice For All. Although Cliff's love of classical music was eventually showcased in the S&M concerts later down the line, it's one of rock's greatest tragedies that he wasn't able to see his creations through on that grand of a scale.