A Tribute to Clem Burke of Blondie (1954-2025)

Incredible drummer. Very versatile. Dreaming was a classic due to him.

Absolutely the driving force of Blondie and he always looked so fuckin’ cool. Will blast Dreaming tonight.

Sad loss - great drummer with a really distinctive style - you always knew it was him behind the drums. RIP Clem.

Truly one of the greats in the drumming world. He both entertained while playing and played well. My band just practiced Sunday Girl by Blondie for the first time this evening, will mean even more to play it in of a crowd this spring.

I'm glad I got a chance to see Blondie live. They were really talented. So sad to see Clem Burke go. Very talented drummer. RIP Clem Burke. Thank you for giving us awesome music.

Dreaming. Supreme drumming. Gone too soon.

R.I.P. Clem Burke. I've been a big Blondie fan since 1979. Of course there is no Blondie without the iconic Debbie Harry, but I always thought that Clem Burke was the band's secret weapon. He was a dynamic, sometimes frantic, grossly underrated drummer. Go listen to Clem in beast-mode in tracks like Dreaming, Union City Blue, Youth Nabbed As Sniper, Will Anything Happen, Walk Like Me, Eat To The Beat, Detroit 442, Accidents Never Happen, Victor. Clem was more than well-respected as a drummer because he was asked to work with many different bands, from The Ramones to The Romantics, and many others, and he even toured with The Go-Go's when Gina Schock had heart surgery. He loved playing so much that he even played with a Blondie tribute band for 20 years, at the same time he was playing with Blondie! Gotta love that. Godspeed, Clem.

I saw Clem Burke in concert with Blondie last June in Belfast - he was an absolute monster that evening and I spent most of the gig focused on him.

His drumming on the Eat to the Beat album especially on Dreaming was always a highlight for me. RIP.

Clem! One of the greatest rock drummers in history! RIP

When I was a young man I couldn't keep my eyes off Debbie Harry. Now I'm older I couldn't keep my eyes off Clem Burke.... amazing drummer

I saw Blondie on July 8th 1979. The next day i ordered my first Premier drum kit. A huge early influence.
I will miss him greatly.

Sad to hear. The best example of how good a drummer he was when Blondie played on SNL. The band played "Dreaming" & he kept the beat while tearing it up. I saw him as a cross between Keith Moon & Charlie Watts. R.I.P.

Legend, icon, underrated, special, but most of all my hero since I was 14 years old. I loved him to bits.

Losing so many…RIP Clem, unique player.

Dreaming encapsulated his thing imo. He had cool style/& class. Thanx SoT.you have a nice eulogy for Clem.

THanks Pete always been a fan of Blondie since they came out.. I met him and the whole band when working in Queens by the 59th street bridge for Big Yellow Storage and the band had their equipment in our facility , they all came in one day to pick up some things and they came into the office, Ive told this story i think once on one of the shows they were very cool and I got to hug and kiss Debbie Harry Rest In Peace Clem

My only time seeing Clem Burke - with The Romantics, 1993 or '94. He had the attitude. 😊
RIP, sir...

Rip clem, my favorite drummer ever,

I always wanted a drummer as good as he was. Glad I got to hear him with Blondie at pier 17 a couple of years ago.

Wow what a shock! I saw Blondie live in 1980 & was mesmerised by his drumming & was a huge reason I played the drums. RIP Clem a true inspiration.

Clem is a Mt. Rushmore drummer to me.
Substance, style, & swag.
BIG Blondie fan and my man is, indeed, the heartbeat.
RIP. Elvis has again left the building.
ps - speaking of Blondie Jimmy Destri never really gets his due. That guy wrote legendary songs for the band!

Clem, thanks for the music. It helped shape my life...

Thanks Pete for a touching tribute to Clem Burke the drummer from Blondie. Not a name that springs to mind, when you are talking about drummers in bands. But a great drummer never the less, it's a shame when they pass away. But Clem drumming on those Blondie albums from the late 70s and early 80s are superb farewell Clem RIP my friend.

Blondie/ so good. RIP. Clem. Pete , thanks for another great tribute. 👍💯

Clem was a journeyman, a workhorse and a true music fan. He was happiest when he was onstage playing. Thanks for the tribute.

He was also part of Iggy Pop's touring band in '81, leading up to Zombie Birdhouse in '82, then Repo Man in '84. Definitely one of my all time favorite drummers.

I saw the Eurythmics back in the 80's at Wembley Arena and Clem was behind the stool and wow I was amazed by his drumming, just blew me away. RIP Clem.

Wow! I just watched your top 30 American bands video yesterday and was happy to see Blondie on the list. R.I.P. Mr. Burke.

RIP Clem Burke love his drumming in the song dreaming, very underrated drummer he will be missed

Thanks for the great tribute to Clem Burke, Pete. Clem was one of my favorite drummers. I love his high energy and his versatility. He's one of the main reasons that Blondie was so successful. Even with his impressive body of work, Clem tended to be overlooked when great drummers were discussed, but he'll always be near the top of my list.
R.I.P. Clem 🥁 💔

When I was studying at Berklee back in 1989, I had Blondie’s Eat to the Beat cassette in my Walkman constantly. Clem gave power to my steps on the Boston sidewalks. May he rest in peace.

Rest in Peace Elvis Ramone--Thanks for all the music wherever your drum kit was sitting.

I listened to both Empty Hearts albums last night in Clem's honor - sooooooo good!

Thanks for paying tribute to Clem Pete! I have had the drum intro to Dreaming playing in my head since I heard the new of his passing. He stood out from the pack of post punk/new wave drummers and he will be missed.

Sad news indeed!
Clem was a fantastic drummer. I say that sincerely, when I don’t even claim to be the biggest fan of Blondie!
He brought amazing creativity, technique and (above all) distinctive groove to every Blondie song I heard.

R.I.P. Clem Burke... This is such a sad loss...

Thank you Pete. Clem was an engine. Best musician in Blondie and probably in that entire scene. And he never seemed to age. 70 is too young.

Very sad to hear about the loss of Clem Burke.
I have always loved Blondie and his drumming.
RIP 🙏🙏🙏

Amazing Drummer, sympatic Person.. what do say more!
Blondie, one of these great acts during a great period full of new, blistering music

Rest in Peace to Clem..You were awesome mate..Blondie was the first band i ever collected and obsessed over as a kid..Clems drumming was a major part of the bands sound and energy...a proper mod in spiirit even though he was a New York/Jersey guy..Sad to see our music heroes pass on..

Great guy, great drummer, he will be missed. ❤

Thanks for the great music Clem RIP

Clem Burke playing Dreaming made me an instant fan.

A great 80s band! I never hear you mention 80s bands much and always wondered why. My personal favorite is INXS! I got to see them at a small place near L.A. when Listen Like Thieves came out.

RIP, Clem: the rocker in the post-punk fold. I saw him and his Blondie bandmates as one of the last acts to play Cornwall Colosseum in the late 90s. He leaves a great musical legacy.

What a great drummer. One of the finest of the New Wave era. R.I.P. good sir! 😞

His death means we've sadly lost yet another Ramone. He played one show with them as 'Elvis Ramone' between Markey leaving and Richie joining.

Amazing drummer... great fusion of disco and rock.

RIP Clem Burk. He will be missed.

Thank you for the touching tribute one of my favorite drummers of all time I would see Blondie whenever they played Baltimore or Washington very sad day for me….

I saw Blondie perform 'Dreaming' on Saturday Night Live back in the late 70's. Prior to watching SNL, I was only familiar with Blondie's music with their disco hit 'Heart of Glass'. Back then, I was no fan of disco music, after seeing and hearing Clem's drumming at the intro of Dreaming, I was impressed. His drumming set the whole momment of that song and the whole SNL show.

First time I saw Blondie was January 1979 Cleveland Public Hall on the Parallel Lines Tour. Most eyes were always on Debbie Harry but I'll tell you what Clem Burke really stood out, man could that dude play. Just glad I was there to see if. RIP Clem

Great drummer!! Such sad news....

Thanks for covering Clems passing Pete

RIP Clem one of best drummers in the world and Blondie the best group to come out of America 🙏🙏🙏😪😪😪

Sad news to start the week but appreciate your taking time, Pete, to honor Clem and some of the great music he helped create. R.I.P. Clem and thanks for sharing your talents while you were here with us.

Love Blondie and Eurtyhmics when he was interviewed always came across as pretty cool guy .

One of the best drummers i had seen live in the past 10 years, glad I had a chance to see this brutal force while he was around. Very interesting biography outside of Blondie. I'm gonna search to see if Pete did a concert review of their last show at Bethel Woods.

I got to meet him once when he was touring with Glenn Matlock and Hugh Cornwell as their drummer. He was such a great drummer live. His playing reminded me of Keith Moon.

I was shocked and saddened to have just found out about his passing. He was definitely one of the top great drummers in rock. My condolences to his family and friends.

Really great drum grooves on all of those songs. Heart of Glass is iconic for that.

Eat to the Beat .. great album

clem Burke,Jerry Nolan,Peter criss all masterclass drummers from that ultra cool ny/ NJ scene .

I picked Clem in my Favourite drummers run down a few months ago. He was one of the few people who could distract you from Debbie on stage. A fantastic drummer who could play everything; the disco of Heart Of Glass, the reggae of The Tide Is High, the punk/new wave of Rip Her To Shreds, the funk of Atomic, the hip hop of Rapture and the manic power pop of Dreaming. RIP Clem.

A great lost. Loved his playing with Blondie and Eurythmics. Two very different type of music but his was great in both.

Well said pete! hardly mentioned as a drummer, but wow he was good!! RIP Clem!

Clem Burke aka Elvis Ramone was ine of the first drummers I ever got into and not only a great timekeeper but very inventive listen to Accidents Never Happen where he uses the rims and the drumming on Plastic Letters features some great fills and Detroit 442 has that great tom groove. It was Clem and Clive Burr who taught me the importance of the floor tom you could ride it like Clem in Dreaming and you could shuffle like Clive on Running Free. Clem was the youngest member of the original band making it all the more surprising. I was lucky enough to see Clem with Blondie at Epsom and one thing you notice as well as his talent was his unbelievable fitness. Even when Debbie was talking he would be playing a back beat and hardly let up all night. Incredible.

Great eulogy Pete as always R.I.P Clem

I saw him at CBGB in 1979 it was great. A sad day.

I was never a big Blonde fan, a couple of songs here & there. But i always enjoyed Clem's drumming. RIP Clem

R.I.P. Clem.

Ya wanna hear how good Clem Burke was on just one Blondie album? get "Eat To The beat" several differenrt styles of music and he was solid thruout!!

Clem Burke was my favourite drummer. I was thinking this morning is there something stressful about being a drummer. So many drummers died young. Gene Krupa ,Buddy Rich and within the past few months the drummer for the Specials, the Jam and Phil Collins physical struggles the past few years !

Clem had a style all his own, he just commanded your attention. Saw him with both Blondie and Eurythmics and he was rock solid. RIP Mr. Burke.

Very sad ! Thanks for passing on the news ❤

One of the all time greats. King of Powerpop drumming!

My mom bought Parallel Lines when it came out back in 1978. It was the first vinyl she ever bought.

Thank you Pete. I hadn't heard about this. That's very sad. Blondie were an excellent band. They just seemed to be always around when I was a kid turning out these great singles that were always on the radio. Parallel Lines was such a great record which I can clearly remember buying, and I was just listening to it not too long ago.
Pete summed it up here. Clem Burke was a solid and very dependable drummer. It just comes naturally to some people. He wasn't flashy. It wasn't about him. He had his job to do and he was bloody good at it. blondie wouldn't have benn blondie without him. Maybe he will get some of the credit that he deserved now.
May he Rest In Peace

Clem Burke R.I.P. the man behind the drums of Blondie.🥁🥁🎶📻🎶

If you’ve ever saw Blondie live, Clems drums hit ya in the chest.. a sign of a great drummer RIP

Fine Tribute Pete. I just saw this about Clem about an hour and a half ago online, I love the music of Blondie too, A very fine time keeper drummer and you can hear the good drumming on all the hits and tracks of Blondie. And yea Chequered Past have that CD as had gotten way some back from Amazon. And great with alot of projects he was involved with RIP Clem and thanks for the memories.

The drum machine was invented and patterned after Clem. Dude was a pro! R.I.P. sir.

My favorite drummer. He had the same energy at the end as in the beginning. I was shocked to see this, and very sad. I never got to see him play live. RIP Clem.

Thanks Pete, don't forget to listen to the epic Union City Blue!
If a person was around Philadelphia/Wildwood NJ in the early 1980s, you heard a lot of Blondie.
RIP Clem Burke

Clem Burke was part of why Blondie had their own sound. They always had energy. RIP

RIP CB , is one of my favorite Drummers of all time..

R.I.P. Clem Burke

A phenomenally talented drummer. Never got enough accolades imo. Solid as fck with tasty fills, could play whatever the song needed.

Blondie 2023 Glastonbury was the best whole show was amazing and the 2 new guitarists were outstanding I hope somewhere this show is recorded on cd

What A Loss. Stunned

Sas news..condolences to his family and friends...a great drummer..

Pete - I'm bummed about Clem Burke passing away. Very underrated drummer who is quite remarkable. RIP Clem Burke.
However, I have purchased the complete discography of The Night Flight Orchestra (7 albums) and picked up a missing Magnum album. pretty jazzed on what I've got coming in this month.
Be safe, stay healthy and have a blessed day.

The Long Shadows!!!

RIP! One of my favorite albums featuring Clem is Dramarama's Hi-Fi Sci-Fi.

Oh no, I didn’t know until I saw this. Love Clem! RIP

First member of blondie ,to pass, rip,

Keep the beat going, Burke.

Brutal loss my favorite non prog drummer

Rip Clem. Great drummer,my favorite album i have with him are probably The Chequered Past album he did with Steve jones and Michael Des Barres.