"𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫; 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞." -𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟕𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 In memory of legendary drummer Clem Burke who has passed away at the age of 70 following a battle with cancer. November 24th, 1954 - April 6th, 2025 Photo of Clem with Blondie's lead singer Debbie Harry by Shig Ikeda, 1976, and photo of Clem by Maureen Donaldson, 1979. Clem was Blondie's drummer for the band's entire fifty year history. In a 2022 interview, Clem stated of his work with the band: "I really like Autoamerican (1980). I think it’s really stood the test of time. At the time, it was pretty innovative and original in its concept. When the album was delivered to the record company, they didn’t know what to make of it. They said there were no hits. And of course The Tide Is High and Rapture are on that record." May he rest in peace. ❤
