Blondie Drummer Clem Burke Dies at 70
The new wave musician also briefly joined the Ramones on drums as Elvis Ramone in 1987
pitchfork.com
By Nina Corcoran – 7th April 2025
Clem Burke, the longtime Blondie drummer who played on all of their albums, has died following “a private battle with cancer,” according to his bandmates Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. “Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie,” they wrote in a joint statement. “His talent, energy and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable. Beyond his musicianship, Clem was a source of inspiration both on and off the stage. His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.” Burke was 70.
Harry, Stein, and Burke were the only three members in Blondie to play on all 11 studio albums in the New York band’s discography. Whether on LPs that further pushed the new wave genre, like 1979’s Eat to the Beat and 1980’s Autoamerican, or post-reunion efforts, like 1999’s No Exit and their 2017 studio swan song. Pollinator, Burke was an unmistakable part of Blondie’s sound, bringing in bright percussion choices and groovy rhythms that urged listeners not just to sing along to songs about aliens and lovesick phone calls, but also to take to the dance floor in the process, too— both at Blondie shows and at karaoke bars around the world. The way he blended quick punk tempos with disco flair often deceptively gave Blondie songs an air of ease.
“I always appreciated drummers like Hal Blaine (Phil Spector’s go-to session drummer) and Earl Palmer (Little Richard, Fats Domino, Frank Sinatra) who were consummate studio musicians and had the kind of musicality and versatility that I aspired to,” Burke told Mixdown in 2024. “I wanted to be able to contribute to the song rather than detract.”
Although Burke wasn’t a founding member of Blondie—Billy O’Connor was the new wave group’s original drummer, but he left just under a year later, in 1975, to leave the music business altogether—he was recruited at the next most crucial time in the band’s career, joining before Blondie recorded a single song or even established themselves as regulars onstage at CBGB. By June 1976, Blondie had signed to Private Stock Records and released their debut single, “X-Offender.” That December, their self-titled debut LP was released, and Blondie earned opening slots on tours with Television, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop. When Blondie switched to British label Chrysalis Records in late 1977, they re-released the album that autumn, a strategy that immediately paid off: Blondie finally scored reviews from select press outlets and climbed Australian Billboard charts with “In the Flesh” and “Rip Her to Shreds.”
Everything changed for Blondie in 1978. Leaning into their punk background, pop hooks, and the playful, far-ranging curiosities that gave their shows an edge, Blondie honed in on their sound with Plastic Letters, their sophomore album, in February and landed on U.S. Billboard charts for the first time. The band’s cultural domination exploded with Parallel Lines in September of that same year, with the Mike Chapman–produced album reaching No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and propelling several of its singles—including “Heart of Glass,” “One Way or Another,” and “Sunday Girl”—to achieve the vaulted status of classics.
Despite the Roland CR-78 drum machine kicking off “Heart of Glass” and its opening clicks being pushed to the forefront of the mix at a time when drum machines weren’t dominating popular music, Burke didn’t sweat the idea that he might be replaced. Instead, he enjoyed the challenge of bringing energy and spirit to a static, technology-centered song. “I later got to work with Kraftwerk’s German producer Conny Plank when he was producing the Eurythmics, and he really made a point of telling me how much he enjoyed ‘Heart of Glass’ and hearing the electronic influence, because it was very early on that we recorded that with the drum machine and all those kind of things,” Burke later recounted.
Following Blondie’s dissolution in 1982, Burke became a go-to drummer for some of the biggest names in music at the time, including the Who’s Pete Townshend—one of his personal idols—as well as Bob Dylan, Eurythmics, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, Nancy Sinatra, Dramarama, and the Fleshtones, among many others. Arguably his most famous sit-in experience was with the Ramones, who he joined for two shows in 1987 and was officially named Elvis Ramone. Burke also formed a number of supergroups over the years like the International Swingers, Slinky Vagabond, and Magic Christian.
During Blondie’s comeback era, Burke was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the band in 2006. A few years later, Burke revealed that he had participated in an eight-year-long study about the physical and psychological effects of rock drumming at a professional tier, which included playing 90-minute sets at 100 concerts in a year. The University of Gloucestershire awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011 for completing the project, and Burke founded the Clem Burke Drumming Project to document the positive results of the study and encourage other drummers to participate.
Countless tributes have rolled in from musicians as they process the news of Burke’s death, including posts from the Kinks’ Dave Davies, Johnny Marr, Blur’s Graham Coxon, Echo and the Bunnymen, Garbage, and Sky Ferreira. “My heart is shattered,” wrote Nancy Sinatra. “Clem became an icon as a member of Blondie, but he was also a important part of my band, the K.A.B. I was blessed to call him my friend. If I ever needed him, he was there.”
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