Godspeed Drummer Clem Burke

Clem Burke, the drummer for the rock group Blondie, died on April 6 2025 at the age of 70. The cause was cancer. He had played on every single one of Blondie's albums.

Clem Burke ws born Clement Bozewski on November 24 1954 in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father had also been a drummer and he began playing drums while very young. In the late Sixties and early Seventies he played with various local New Jersey bands. He was also a member of the St Andrew's Bridgemen Drum and Bugle Corps in Bayonne for a time.

It was in early 1975 that Debbie Harry and Chris Stein recruited Clem Burke to replace original drummer Billy O'Connor. The band went onto perform regularly at Max's Kansas City and CBGB in New York City. They eventually signed with Private Stock Records and their first, self-titled album was released in December 1976. Their debut album would be followed by Plastic Letters in 1978. Their breakthrough album, Parallel Lines, was released in 1978. It was also that year that they had their first major hit, "Heart of Glass," which went all the way to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Blondie continued to do very well, producing such hits as "Call Me," "Atomic," "The Tide is High," and "Rapture," until their album The Hunter in 1982. The album itself only went to no. 33 on the Billboard album chart while the only single from the album to chart, "Island of Lost Souls," only went to no. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band announced they had disbanded in November 1982.

While Blonde was split up,Clem Burke would play with various other artists. He played frequently with The Romantics, and even appeared on their albums Made in Detroit (1993) and 61/49 (2003). He also played with Eurhythmics on two albums (In the Garden in 1981 an Revenge in 1986). Clem Burke also worked with such artists as Iggy Pop, Chequered Past, Pete Townshend, The Adult Net, The Plimsouls, and others.

Blonde regrouped in 1997 and released their first new album in years, No Exit, in 1999. Clem Burke appeared on every one of their albums until the final one, Pollinator, in 2017. When Blondie wasn't touring he played with a Blonde tribute band, Bootleg Blondie.

Clem Burke was one of the best drummers in the history of rock music. His style was not unlike that of Keith Moon or Earl Palmer. He hit hard and he hit fast. That is not to say that he was not capable of subtlety,  and he could play on a ballad as easily as he could a power pop rabble rouser. It was Clem Burke's adaptability as a drummer that let Blondie do songs in styles from disco ("Heart of Glass") to reggae ("The Tide is High"). It is little wonder that he played with artists as diverse as The Romantics, Wanda Jackson, and The Ramones. He was definitely one of the best drummers of his time.